West Valley education summit addresses college, minorities

WEST VALLEY CITY — Education leaders and city officials are collaborating to take on community challenges — including how to increase job training and college degrees after high school, especially for minority populations.

This was one of myriad issues discussed Wednesday by 45 participants at West Valley City's Summit of Educators.

"How do we respond to the demographic growth in the state — a huge challenge in and of itself," said Utah Commissioner of Higher Education William A. Sederburg. "And how do we upgrade the citizens' education level to meet the economic demands of the future?"

Only 67 percent of Hispanics graduate from high school, compared with 91 percent of white students. Only 16 percent of Hispanic young adults are enrolled in college, compared with 45 percent of white young adults — the largest minority gap in the nation, according to data from the Utah System of Higher Education.

Sederburg points to income potential as reason for post-secondary training.

In Utah, people with a high school diploma earn an average annual income of $22,437. But with an associate's degree or certificate they can earn $30,356 annually, $45,776 with a bachelor's degree or $65,301 with an advanced degree.

Utah salaries are 20 percent behind the national average.

"Frankly, Utah is falling behind," Sederburg said.

Utah's goal is to have 60 percent of Utahns ages 25 to 64 with a higher-education certificate or degree by 2025. Education leaders hope to accomplish this by increasing participation rates of women, minorities and returning adult learners, as well as focusing on increasing high school graduation rates.

When asked how students are able to shoulder the ever-increasing tuition costs, Sederburg told the Deseret News he admits tuition increases are a challenge for students. However, he points to state appropriations as a factor.

"When state appropriations are cut 12 percent and enrollment goes up 17 percent, we would have had to increase tuition over 40 percent last year," Sederburg said, adding the increase was about 9 percent and 39 percent in cuts were absorbed.

"It is a pain for people to pay — but it could have been a lot worse, and it's still a great investment," he said.