Higher Education: Virginia Is Innovating for Success

BLACKSBURG The recession and resulting loss of jobs and business activity present state leaders with a unique set of challenges to attract and retain top industries and generate new high-paying jobs for our citizens.

In a period of diminished resources it is important to nourish those activities that will have lasting impact on the economic future of the state's citizens. The commonwealth's future will be shaped by our willingness to transform Virginia into one of the most highly educated states in the nation.

Earlier this year a broad coalition of business leaders from across the state launched a grassroots effort to achieve just such a goal. "Grow by Degrees" is a multiyear effort designed to enhance educational attainment for all Virginians -- whether at our community colleges or four-year institutions -- by increasing the number of post-high school degrees by an additional 70,000 by 2020 (http://www.growbydegrees.org).

When one looks at the key drivers of economic growth, the most important measure is the education attainment of our citizens. Right now the educational achievement of Virginians varies greatly by region. In some counties in Virginia up to 50 percent of the adult population lack even a high school diploma while in other communities 75 percent have a four-year degree. Not only is this gap a serious drag on the economic vitality of the state, but it leaves far too many citizens permanently unable to share in the promise of a brighter future.

Most of the economic growth over the past decade has been shaped by innovations in advanced technologies that continue to boost American productivity. That is why former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker said, "If we are to remain pre-eminent in transforming knowledge into economic value, the U.S. system of higher education must remain the world leader in generating scientific and technological breakthroughs and in preparing workers to meet the evolving demands for skilled labor."

Why is that important to every citizen? Virginia -- and by extension, the United States -- is competing on a global scale. In countries such as India and China, an ever-growing percentage of citizens are earning college degrees in numbers that dwarf those earned in the United States. For example, if 10 percent of China's 1.3 billion citizens had a college degree, that would equal 130 million people, just about 43 percent of the entire U.S. population.

A broad cross section of business and government leaders also recognizes that the U.S. is not graduating enough Americans with degrees in engineering and the sciences. The major focus of the Grow by Degrees program is to increase the number of students going into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics -- the STEM disciplines.

According the dean of engineering at MIT, Thomas l. Magnanti, on a per capita basis, the U.S. grants only 75 percent as many bachelor degrees in engineering as it did in 1985. And 40 percent of all bachelor degrees in China today are in engineering, compared to only 5 percent in the U.S.

Here in Virginia the academic strengths of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, along with the Virginia Community College System, were critical in helping to attract Rolls-Royce's $500 million investment in a new manufacturing facility in Prince George County that will eventually employ nearly 500.

In Lynchburg, the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and other universities are working with nuclear engineering leader Areva on development of the next generation of nuclear reactors, as well as creating a new corps of nuclear engineers to meet the burgeoning demand across the nation.

By working directly with industry on ways to re-engineer the manufacturing process or the development of stronger and more cost-efficient materials, scientific innovation developed by our leading research universities will enable American industry to level the international playing field with respect to low-wage nations in other parts of the world.

As one looks back over the last 50 years, science and innovation were at the heart of the American Century and brought this nation to the apex as a global power. America became the leader of the Free World, landed astronauts on the moon, and helped unravel the secrets of the double helix because of the transformative power of the strongest higher education enterprise in the world.

The manufacturing jobs that sustained our nation have changed. Today an innovation economy will require its practitioners to have a greater mastery of science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. The half-life of knowledge will grow shorter and require more adaptability and innovation than ever before. Only those states and nations that embrace this challenge will thrive.

We all want to grow Virginia's economy. To do that, we have to grow it by degrees. I hope you will join us in this quest for the future of Virginia.

Charles Steger is president of Virginia Tech. Contact him at .