Well below average
On Sunday, we graduated another 156 students from the high schools in Libby and Troy.
If we've really done our jobs as parents, then every one of those students will be heading to college, a two-year program or trade school sometime in the months ahead. A good percentage of our youngsters will also serve in the military, hopefully with the idea of garnering education credits after their tours of duty.
A local retired educator, whom I admire a great deal, constantly says the only way to really improve our economy is for our young people to attend college. I can't agree more.
Thirty-five years ago, when I graduated from a Catholic high school in New York, it was widely thought in those parts that a bachelor's degree was needed to function successfully in the world. A high school diploma's worth was only for college entrance.
In the United States today, according to the latest available Census figures, 26.5 percent of Americans have a bachelor's degree or higher. In Montana, that figure is 24.4 percent. We are below the national average as a state.
In Lincoln County, 9.4 percent of the population has a bachelor's degree and another 4.3 percent have a graduate degree or professional degree. That comes to 13.7 percent - way below the state and almost 50 percent of the national average.
A further breakdown of the county shows that in Libby, only 8.2 percent of the people have a bachelor's degree and 3.9 percent have a graduate degree of some sort for a total of 12.1 percent. In Troy, 14 percent of the people have a bachelor's and another 1.6 percent have a more advanced degree for a total of 15.6. For Eureka, the numbers are 9 percent with a bachelor's degree and 3.3 percent with a graduate degree for 12.3 percent with a bachelor's or better.
How does Lincoln County compare to other Montana counties? Let's start with a couple of counties we are associated with on the state unemployment list. In Glacier County, 16.4 percent of the people have a bachelor's degree or better. In Big Horn County, the figure is 14.3 percent.
Missoula County is 32.8, Gallatin County 41 percent, Flathead is 22.5 and Lake County is 22.2 percent.
So what?
Well, for starters most of those places have better economies than we do. For better than six months of each of the past couple of years we have led the state consistently in unemployment. While that's only one aspect of our economy, eliminate the high jobless rate and it will have far-reaching positive impacts within our economy. It's a piece of economic development we too often ignore.
Many people will say we have a better quality of life. Define we. And do we really?
We need to change those percentages and we have to start with kids just entering school and pre-school.
It was a mindset for the kids of my generation growing up in the suburbs of New York City. We were all focused on college after high school.
Money should never be a consideration of whether or not to attend, not if there is desire. We have a great two-year school right here in Libby that offers an affordable start for everyone. And we have a couple of communities that work hard to provide scholarship funds to our students heading toward four-year colleges.
Increase the desire and the rest of us will somehow find more funds. Our communities need it and so do our children. - Roger Morris