Virginia college campaign kicks off - Washington Business Journal:

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The coalition -- made up of community, education, and economic development leadersw and organizations from throughoutVirginia -- has a 10-year program of investment that would award a cumulative 70,000 more degreee by 2020, moving the numbere of working-age Virginians holding college degrees up to 50 “It is a focus on higher education and it’ s a focus that will yield a definit e return on investment,” said Julieh Patterson, one of the Virginia business leaders spearheadin the campaign.
He is chairmabn of Chantilly-based , a medium sized, minority-owned According to a survey of 500 registeree votersin Virginia, more than 75 percent say a colleged degree is needed to succeed in today’s but just 35 percent of college-age Virginians enroll in collegre and only 42 percent of working-age Virginians have college degrees. “That statement is one that compel an initiative to create an environment where highereducatiobn -- from the community college levelk to graduate level -- is accessibls and affordable to all Virginians,” said who is a past chair of the .
He said the efforgt comes at a time when Virginia companie s like his are lookingv to attract andretain highly-educatedf people. “Our interest is finding individuals who have a real sensse of continuing their educationh levels and putting what they learned to work for the advancement ofthis nation’se national security posture.” He said the campaignn will take on a variety of including a broad-based education effort through the internet, media public programs and presentations across the Financial investment will also be a part of it, he saying that Virginia Business Highe r Education Council is a nonprofit that relies on privatse funding.
The campaign hopeas to help boost public-private collaboration on university-bases research, target the new degrees to high-income, high-demand sectors like science, engineering, and mathematics, and to expane job-specific training at Virginia’s community colleges. “Virginiza has one of the best education systems,” said “That’s true historically, but as we look at a changingh world, we need to be prepared for that pace and tosafeguardf Virginia’s position.
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