The Higher Education Compact will follow Jackson's regional approach to education by eventually expanding the effort to students throughout Greater Cleveland.

CLEVELAND – There is no issue more critical to the City of Cleveland’s future than increasing the level of higher education attainment among its residents. Nearly 60 percent of newly-created jobs in the next few years will require a postsecondary credential. Currently, six percent of City of Cleveland residents hold an associate’s degree, and eight percent hold a bachelor’s degree.

To address this challenge, Mayor Jackson commissioned a working group that included the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, college and university presidents and members of the civic community.

Out of this group came the Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland – a community-wide effort to significantly increase the number of Cleveland students who earn degrees by focusing on college readiness, college access, and college persistence. Members of the Compact will share data with the purpose of identifying those Cleveland students enrolling in a two-year or four-year degree program and monitoring them as they progress toward their degrees.

"We can change the infrastructure of Cleveland…  make improvements to all the bricks and mortar that need fixing and attract magnificent businesses but if we fail to change how we educate our children, our economic development and community building efforts will be in vain. Education is the single most important investment we can make. Simply put, we as a city and a region will not achieve greatness if we do not properly educate our children," said Jackson.

Fifteen Ohio college and university presidents and more than 15 foundations and civic organizations have signed the Compact, committing to the following:

• Developing student-focused action plans for their individual organizations that will act as a roadmap for providing better support for students in attaining their college degrees;

• Working with students to ensure they are college-ready, that they find the best possible fit when choosing a college and that students have the necessary financial resources to graduate from college;

• Increasing community awareness about why postsecondary education is so important;

• Gathering data to create a College Success Dashboard that will track the Compact’s progress and accomplishments and will serve as an annual update each Fall;

• Planning an annual best practices symposium beginning in 2012; and,

• Exploring the development of additional scholarship and financial aid programs.

"The Education Compact represents a truly collaborative effort to align resources from CMSD, these 15 universities, and several support organizations to not only dramatically increase the number of Cleveland students who attend college, but to ensure that they graduate,” said Eric Gordon, CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “Building local partnerships not only supports our children now, but also supports Cleveland's economy by providing a more educated work-force who are likely to continue to live and work in Cleveland and Ohio. It is exciting to be part of such a tremendous effort!"

“The Higher Education Compact is an unprecedented initiative for Greater Cleveland. The number of partners signing up to roll up their sleeves demonstrates the immediacy of the problem and the recognition that it takes the entire community to propel our students forward. We need to graduate our students from high school college-ready and make sure they have access to and exhaust all of the available resources that will allow them to enroll in, finance and complete a postsecondary education,” said Lee Friedman, CEO of College Now Greater Cleveland.

“College attainment is critical not only to individuals’ prosperity, but to the prosperity of our region,” said Ronald Richard, president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Foundation. “Low college attainment rates affect everyone, from families struggling to get by to city leaders trying to serve our citizens with a shrinking tax base. Our students – and our city – deserve better.”

The Higher Education Compact will follow Jackson's regional approach to education by eventually expanding the effort to students throughout Greater Cleveland.