Educational Attainment Gains Throughout North Carolina

The latest Census shows a 3.5 percentage point increase in North Carolina’s educational attainment rate in three years. Since 2018, 75 counties increased their attainment percentages with Clay, Dare, and Avery counties demonstrating the most rapid growth. These three counties increased over 9 percentage points, with Clay County increasing more than 15 percentage points in 3 years.

Currently, 1.55 million North Carolinians aged 25-44 hold a postsecondary degree or credential, with a goal of 2 million by 2030. By collaborating with partner stakeholders and creating more opportunities for all North Carolinians, myFutureNC is committed to creating a stronger, economically competitive and prosperous North Carolina. By increasing educational attainment opportunities for all, North Carolina can meet the workforce needs of business and industry and create upward mobility and economic prosperity for our citizens and communities.

In addition to the 2 million by 2030 goal, myFutureNC monitors progress on 18 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that are leading benchmarks for educational attainment, aligned around four key transition points:

• Academic Readiness
• College & Career Access
• Postsecondary Completion
• Workforce Alignment

Congratulations to the following counties for increasing your educational attainment rate by more than 5% in 3 years!