A New Goal to Seize a Generational Opportunity
Increasing educational attainment by 20% in less than two decades across Miami-Dade County
Featured Content
ALC report aims for a Miami that by 2040, 65% of our working population will have an associates degree or higher. Read the full report here.Join us for our 10th Climate Tech Meetup on March 6th featuring three Miami climate innovators from the Larta Institute cohort. Register here.
Opportunity Miami and the Academic Leaders Council presented talent development goals last week that aim to seize a generational opportunity for Miami - namely, the opportunity to build the most uniquely diverse, skilled regional workforce in the hemisphere.
The goal is to increase the number of adults with an associates degree or higher across Miami-Dade County from 45.5 percent today to 65 percent by 2040 - a 20 percent jump over the next 16 years.
Florida College Access Network issued a statement following the announcement saying it “applauds Miami-Dade’s bold educational attainment goal.”
“This isn’t just about numbers - it’s about driving social mobility, narrowing income gaps, and unlocking the full potential of our community,” President Madeline Pumariega, Academic Leaders Council Chair and President of Miami Dade College, posted following the event. The gathering announcing the new benchmark was hosted by President Pumariega at MDC’s Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami.
You can read the 2040 Talent Goals Report by going to opportunity.miami/talent-goals. It includes a 50-page report and the ALCs series, Essays on our Future, in which each ALC member writes about how their institutions are building Miami’s next-generation workforce.
The Academic Leaders Council (ALC) is composed of the presidents of Miami’s six major colleges - Miami Dade College, Florida International University, University of Miami, Florida Memorial University, St. Thomas University, Barry University - and the Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Together, this group is educating more than 500,000 people across Greater Miami this year.
All seven leaders spoke at the event last week. A video of the event will be posted on Opportunity Miami’s YouTube channel in the coming days.
The focus on increasing the number of adult workers with an associates or higher has been spearheaded by the Lumina Foundation. They launched a national campaign to get the entire country to 60 percent. Lumina CEO Jamie Merisotis spoke at the Opportunity Miami Academic Leaders Council luncheon in September 2022. You can see national, state, and local data here.
Miami-Dade County has been making significant strides. Since 2009, it has increased by 8.2 percent from 37.3 percent more than a decade ago.
But Miami-Dade County is behind and needs to move faster. For context, the United States is currently at 54.3 percent. Florida is 54.5 percent. Metropolitan areas range from San Francisco and Oakland at 61.3 percent to Greater Boston at 60.8 percent, the Atlanta metro region at 50.9 percent, and Austin and its suburbs at 56.3 percent. Greater Los Angeles is behind the Miami metro area at 44.8 percent.
There are efforts underway to accelerate educational attainment across Miami-Dade County. In October 2023 Miami Dade College and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levina Cava partnered to launch the Future Ready Scholarship, which allows any Miami-Dade County resident entering college for the first time to get an associates degree tuition-free.
As another example, the City of Miami Gardens has launched the City University Partnership with St. Thomas University, Florida Memorial University and Miami Dade College, which aims to help Miami Gardens residents become aware of educational opportunities and improve skills through upskilling. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, meanwhile, has 11,000 students participating in dual enrollment programs with colleges and universities.
Talent development is so important because the future is so uncertain. Due to the increasing pace of technology and innovation, our economy could go in any number of directions. The ability to adapt will be critical. The places best able to adapt will, in all likelihood, be the places with the most broadly educated workforce.
Meanwhile, education and talent development are also among the most powerful tools to drive social mobility. The more people with a good education, the more have a shot at a better, more prosperous life. For Miami, talent development is a primary way to shrink the wide opportunity and income gap that persists across the metropolitan area.
But, perhaps most importantly, why educational attainment is the key benchmark is because it directly correlates to income and prosperity. According to Florida College Access Network, the average associate’s degree earns more than $70,000 annually in comparison to $35,400 for a high school diploma. The average salary for a person with a bachelor’s degree stands at nearly $90,000.
For any community, there are three ways to build talent and increase its percentage of workers with an associates degree or higher. One, import it. Two, nurture it from early childhood education onward. And, three, upskill and re-skill through adult learning.
As it happens, and perhaps no surprise following the recent waves of people moving to Miami during COVID, Greater Miami is doing well in attracting educated workers. According to the latest census figures, 58 percent of people who moved to South Florida had an associates or higher.
But the other two areas are places where the ALC has a direct and proximate impact. The imperative is not just to improve the overall number of residents getting college degrees, but to do so in every neighborhood across the community.
The reason is that there are dramatic disparities from neighborhood to neighborhood. There are disparities between racial and ethnic groups as well. For instance, 65 percent of non-Hispanic white residents in Miami-Dade County hold associates or higher compared to 40 percent of Hispanic and 30 percent of Black residents.
This highlights the need to both identify and remove barriers getting in the way of students and residents from getting a degree. This includes tuition and fees, transportation, childcare, and also an awareness of the educational opportunities available.
Which brings us to Miami’s generational opportunity. Today, the Miami metropolitan area has become one of the most diverse and cosmopolitan regions in the U.S. More than half of Miami-Dade County residents were born outside the U.S. More than eight in ten Miami-Dade residents today identify as Hispanic or Black.
Building from this base, Greater Miami has the opportunity to build a uniquely diverse, skilled workforce unlike any region in the hemisphere. And, in doing so, drive social mobility that dramatically shrinks Miami’s income and opportunity gap.
To do it, the goal we set is to build a Miami by 2040 - just 16 years from now - in which 65 percent of our working population has an associates degree or higher.
Getting there will require participation from every part of our community - from large corporations, entrepreneurs, and small businesses to the nonprofit sector, government, and individual residents. By having a specific and measurable goal, the hope is it will focus efforts and stir action across the community.
This can be the Miami of 2040. This can be the engine that propels Miami for decades to come. This can be Miami’s future – if we seize it.
CLIMATE TECH MEETUP
Join us for our tenth climate tech meetup on March 6th featuring presentations from three Miami climate innovators from the most recent Venture Fellows cohort of Larta Institute. Register here.
ONE MORE THING
This is my final newsletter. Opportunity Miami is in the best hands with the most amazing, talented team. And it is supported by such an engaging community - namely, you - who are leaning into Miami’s future.
I’m so proud of and grateful for the work we’ve done together. Two areas especially come to mind. One, our leadership and work together focused on climate tech as key to our future – and that Miami can be a global leader in the transition to a net zero economy. And, two, in partnership with the ALC, setting a talent development goal - a North Star - to stir action and build a next-generation workforce that’s like few others.
I’m so excited to see where Opportunity Miami and our community go next. Thank you. 🙏🏼
~Matt