In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer, and Douglas Gagnon explore challenges and opportunities for youth in Southwestern (SW) Minnesota. They analyze data on various demographic, economic, educational, and social indicators to gain a better understanding of the circumstances youth face and the opportunity available in SW…

National and regional trends mask important variation among states in the supply of high school graduates. This profile provides brief indicators for Minnesota related to: current levels of educational attainment, projections of high school graduates into the future, and two common barriers to student access and success--insufficient academic…

Stateline.org recently called this recession the worst in 50 years for state budgets. As has been the case in past economic downturns, higher education looks to be particularly hard hit. Funds from the American Recovery and Relief Act may have postponed some of the difficulty for many colleges and universities, but the outlook for public higher…

This report examines high school dropout and college participation rates in Minnesota and their relationship to such socioeconomic factors as race, family income, and parental education. The analysis uses data provided by the Minnesota Department of Education, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, Minnesota Planning, the Census Bureau, and the…

Minnesota has long prided itself on providing ample higher education opportunities for its citizens. However, there is a well-documented and growing disparity in Minnesota and nationally between various racial and economic groups' participation in college and technical college. This study's charge was to determine if participation in higher…