College and career readiness has never been more important for Missouri's students. The state is adopting new learning standards to help prepare students for post-secondary education and careers.
In Missouri:
In Missouri:
- 80% of skilled jobs require some form of college or training beyond high school, but only 35% of Missourians have an associate degree or higher.
- For every 100 high school freshmen in Missouri, only 22 will earn an associate or bachelor's degree by their early 20s.
- 36% of high school graduates enrolling in a public college or university must take one or more remedial classes before they can enroll in college-level classes.
- Remediation is estimated to cost the state $90 million annually for post-secondary education.
- Students lost $32 million in lifetime wages because the need for remedial education delayed or prevented them from getting a college degree.
- The average income for a person with a bachelor's degree is $71,813 compared to $38,467 for a person with some college and $33,080 for a person with only a high school diploma.
- In 2010, the average unemployment rate for a person with a bachelor's degree was 2%, compared to 13% for a high school graduate having no post-secondary education.