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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Report: 1 Million-Plus in WA Have Some College, No Credential

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Wednesday, July 6, 2022   

The number of people with some higher education but no degree or other credential to show for it has increased in recent years, according to a new report.

The number of Washingtonians with "some college" is especially stark. The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found about 1.1 million Washington state students without a credential.

Michael Meotti, executive director of the Washington Student Achievement Council, said this pool of adult students is larger than those coming out of high school, but often needs different support to finish higher education.

"They need to have a program that they can complete within, say, up to a year," he said, "and have it deliver some immediate value to them and perhaps their family, in terms of employability or earnings power."

Washington state set a goal in 2013 to have at least 70% of people between ages 25 and 44 with a postsecondary degree by 2023 but is likely to miss that mark, especially in the wake of the pandemic's effect on enrollment.

Meotti said paying for college is a big barrier for students, but noted that Washington state is generous, with financial aid programs able to pay tuition and fees for about one-third of students in the state. He said many people don't know that aid can be used for multiple education priorities.

"There's just a lot of public assumptions that financial aid is for academic programs; it's for being a psychology major and getting a degree," he said, "and they don't realize financial aid can cover getting your certificate as an automobile service technician. Financial aid can help you in an apprenticeship program, in which you get paid while you're learning."

Meotti said it's time to rethink pathways for adults. He's convinced that would be helpful for everyone, especially in Washington state, where many jobs require advanced skills.

"We can't look at the world as if it's what you know at the age of 23 or 24, what credentials you have at that age define the rest of your career," he said. "That might have been the way it was in the '50s and '60s, but that's the past - and the world is different now."


Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

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