High stakes for higher ed in Georgia gubernatorial election

In a new report, Penn GSE’s Joni Finney details how Georgia has created a higher education system that is among the nation’s least affordable, with fewer opportunities for Blacks, Hispanics, and the poor.  

In a piece posted to LinkedIn, Finney writes that the state’s continued failure to train people for jobs should worry voters before the state’s November 6 gubernatorial election:

“While Georgia is spending more on merit-based scholarships than any state, nagging questions remain: why does the state rank 45th in the nation in the percentage of 18- to 24-year olds enrolled in educational programs beyond high school and 47th for students completing college? Why have graduation rates for low-income Georgians actually fallen since 2015?

“This poor performance should be of concern to all Georgia voters. They should be asking the candidates running for governor about the poor returns on this investment. With the billions in state money and the future of the economy at stake, this isn’t just a concern for parents of high school seniors.”

Read Finney’s full piece here.

Find the Institute for Research on Higher Education’s Georgia Case Study here.