We need to close the
educational attainment gap
in North Carolina.

That starts with an ambitious goal: ensuring that by 2030,
2 million North Carolinians have a high-quality credential
or a postsecondary degree.

female graduate

North Carolina First in FAFSA is a myFutureNC Collaborative that focuses on increasing the number of high school seniors who complete the FAFSA application. Increasing the FAFSA completion rate is a fundamental step in our state’s efforts to meet our postsecondary attainment goal.

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The State of Educational Attainment: Recording

On February 6, myFutureNC hosted the Virtual State of Educational Attainment in North Carolina to share the top findings from the North Carolina’s State of Educational Attainment Report and proposed solutions to address the state of emergency around workforce talent and the education pipeline in NC. We highlighted success stories and forecasted needs and clear solutions to help us achieve the state’s educational attainment goal of 2 million degrees or industry-valued credentials by 2030 among North Carolinians ages 25-44.

Watch the Recording

Our Goal

1.55M
2M
2022
2030

North Carolinians (25-44) with high-quality credentials or postsecondary degrees

Our education system and economy are out of sync.

As our economy grows, the vast majority of new jobs require more than a high school diploma—something that less than half of North Carolinians ages 25-44, and even fewer from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, currently have.

Together, we can set our state on a path to a more prosperous future.

The way forward.

  • Engage local, regional, and statewide stakeholders to communicate the need for greater attainment and eliminate the gap between the skills employers require and the education and training available throughout the state
  • Better align and coordinate systems to support students at all levels, from pre-K education on up through high-quality certificate, associate, and higher-degree programs
  • Catalyze innovative, effective ideas, and identify best practices that can be applied from the mountains to the coast, in our cities, towns, and rural areas
  • Monitor progress and improve our efforts each and every year

Join our efforts.

Stay in touch, and help champion success for our state and all of its people.

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