La. graduate loss decried

• By MARSHA SILLS
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Oct 1, 2008 - Page: 1BA - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — While the state’s college graduation rates have improved in recent years, nearly a third of graduates are still choosing to leave the state for better job opportunities, according to data presented Tuesday by University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Joe Savoie.

“Out-migration is still a problem. Louisiana does not support enough new economy jobs,” Savoie said.

Between 1989 and 2007, the number of college graduates increased from 16.6 percent to 24.5 percent, but in the same time period, 31 percent of graduates left the state for other employment, Savoie said.

His presentation to the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce during its Eggs ’n’ Issues event Tuesday revealed data that link educational attainment to the state’s poverty levels, incarceration rates and its ability to spur new economic opportunities. 

Recently, the state revamped its Labor Department and pumped millions in new training programs to attract new industries to the state.

But the state’s challenge is not only educating a skilled work force to attract new industry, but retaining that trained work force with jobs that fit graduates’ interests, Savoie said.

Those interests are more in line with a “knowledge economy” — an economy that supports more technical and traditionally higher-paying jobs in fields such as health, engineering and computer science.

Universities and colleges provide research and the pipeline of employees for this new “knowledge economy,” Savoie said.

The state and national economies no longer rely on manufacturing, agriculture or low-skilled labor. In 1973, only 28 percent of jobs required postsecondary education, however, today, about 67 percent of jobs require education beyond high school, Savoie shared.

Savoie began at the university in August. For the past 12 years, he served as the state’s higher education commissioner. He said the state faces another challenge of improving high school graduation rates, especially as out-migration continues in the state following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In 2005, there were 44,373 high school graduates, while in 2007, there were 41,370. By 2011, it’s projected the state will have only 38,600 high school graduates.

“If we’re looking for well-prepared and well-educated workers to attract new (industry) here, we’ll need a pipeline, and that pipeline is shrinking,” Savoie said.

Increased state funding for higher education in the past years from about $600 million to more than $1.6 billion has made a difference, and performance outcomes are improving, Savoie said.