People and Place Matter: Lessons Learned about Increasing College Attainment

Jamie P. Merisotis, President & CEO, Lumina Foundation
Morning keynote, Memphis Mayors Meeting

Read the full speech at link above or see attached.

President's Speech includes the following:

Latino student success-and really, the work on college-success under way in all of your cities-is hugely important. In fact, one could argue that the single-most important task of any city seeking to ensure progress and prosperity over the long term is the effort to boost college success among its residents. After all, cities run on people power ... and nothing fuels people power like postsecondary education.

In this economy - which is becoming more global, more complex and more demanding every day - college-level learning is a precious commodity. It is the one vital unit of currency for any individual who hopes to attain and maintain a middle-class lifestyle. To be a productive global citizen, today's student needs college ... a degree or credential that has genuine value in the workplace, and in life. And for the individual benefits of college education to add up to long-term societal gains, we obviously needs millions more students to succeed in this way-students of every age ... every color ... every ethnic group and income level ... from every geographic area.

Goal 2025 is a national goal, for an obvious reason: It seeks nationwide action to addresses a critical national need. But we've learned that, just as all politics is local, so is all social progress. For a goal this big to be reached, it must be adopted in pieces-by individuals, organizations and partnerships throughout the nation. Small successes must accumulate, inspiring and supporting new efforts until the big effect is felt. In a way, every project that Lumina undertakes or supports - including the Latino Student Success program, the Talent Dividend initiative from CEOs for Cities, the great policy and analytic work of Excelencia in Education, and scores of other efforts-all of these aim to break off pieces of the national goal so they can be addressed locally.