Two-thirds of all new jobs will require postsecondary education by 2020. And the Vermont Department of Labor projects that by 2022, Vermont will have nearly 10,000 new job openings — due to both growth and replacing retiring workers — that require at least a postsecondary certificate. Yet Vermont has one of the country’s lowest rates of students continuing their education after high school. And 1 in 7 Vermont students who do enter college end up dropping out. These are the results of a new study by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation. We look at causes and solutions to the problem.

Scott Giles, president, Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC)