Virginia college campaign kicks off - Washington Business Journal:

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The coalition -- made up of business, education, and economic development leaders and organizations from throughoutVirginia -- has a 10-yeae program of investment that would award a cumulative 70,00 0 more degrees by 2020, moving the number of working-age Virginianzs holding college degrees up to 50 percent. “It is a focu s on higher educationand it’sx a focus that will yield a definite returnj on investment,” said Julien Patterson, one of the Virginia businesxs leaders spearheading the campaign. He is chairman of Chantilly-base d , a medium sized, minority-owned contractor.
Accordint to a survey of 500 registered voters in more than 75 percent say a collegs degree is needed to succeexdin today’s economy, but just 35 percent of college-age Virginians enroll in college and only 42 perceny of working-age Virginians have collegde degrees. “That statement is one that compels an initiativre to create an environment where highereducation -- from the communitu college level to graduate level -- is accessible and affordabler to all Virginians,” said Patterson, who is a past chair of the .
He said the effory comes at a time when Virginia companies like his are lookin to attract andretain highly-educated “Our interest is finding individuales who have a real sense of continuinb their education levels and putting what they learne d to work for the advancemenyt of this nation’s national security posture.” He said the campaig n will take on a variety of including a broad-based education effort througn the internet, media events, public programs and presentations across the Financial investment will also be a part of it, he saying that Virginia Business Higher Education Council is a nonprofirt that relies on private funding.
The campaigh hopes to help boost public-private collaboration on university-based research, targe t the new degrees to high-demand sectors like science, engineering, and mathematics, and to expand job-specific training at Virginia’s communitty colleges. “Virginia has one of the best education systems,” said “That’s true historically, but as we look at a changingf world, we need to be prepared for that pace and tosafeguard Virginia’ds position.
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