Posted on: 10/22/2024

Florida's Future Billions

Florida's Future Billions

How expanding college access, participation, and attainment will increase prosperity in Florida 

Expanding access to postsecondary education is one of the most powerful strategies for securing Florida's future prosperity in an increasingly competitive global economy.

By boosting college enrollment and completion rates, Florida can drive sustained economic growth and elevate the prosperity of its residents.

The Florida’s Future Billions Report reveals groundbreaking insights into how increasing college enrollment and completion rates can fuel Florida’s economic engine. 

While the benefits of a college degree are widely recognized, specific projections of the return on investment from statewide educational initiatives are often lacking or generalized.

In our latest report, Helios Education Foundation provides business leaders, policymakers, and education advocates in Florida detailed estimates of the transformative economic impact that increasing college enrollment and attainment can achieve.

This report presents four actionable scenarios demonstrating how boosting college enrollment and attainment can generate billions in economic gains for Florida. It highlights how going to college and earning a credential can lead to life-changing earnings premiums for individuals, improved health outcomes, and greater economic mobility. Additionally, the report outlines the aggregate benefits to Florida’s major workforce regions, including Miami-Dade, Orlando, and Tampa Bay. 

Economic impact of postsecondary education in Florida
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The economic impact of postsecondary education can be understood from three key perspectives:

The benefits of postsecondary education extend beyond the classroom, providing both private and public advantages. On an individual level, people experience higher earnings, more stable employment, better health, and greater wealth accumulation. Collectively, these individual benefits translate into large-scale public gains for Florida, including increased revenues (e.g., sales tax), reduced government expenditures, and greater economic productivity.

Exploring the economic benefits of postsecondary education

INDIVIDUAL

The private benefits individuals gain from postsecondary education are evident in higher lifetime earnings, increased labor force participation, enhanced job security, and improved health outcomes.

SOCIAL

On a broader scale, postsecondary education drives public benefits, boosting community and state-wide prosperity. Social benefits include higher gross earnings, better overall health, and reductions in crime and other societal challenges influenced by increased educational attainment.

FISCAL

Increased postsecondary enrollment and completion lead to higher state revenues and lower government expenditures on areas like health care and criminal justice. These fiscal gains contribute to the overall public value of investing in postsecondary education.

Florida stands to gain significant economic benefits and a more skilled workforce by expanding access to postsecondary education. Here are four critical ways education leaders, business leaders, and policymakers can make this a reality:

  • Improve high school preparation for college

  • Make college more affordable

  • Strengthen public-private partnerships

  • Invest in data-driven decision-making 

Actions Florida can take to increase college going and college success:

About the data

This report models the economic effects of postsecondary enrollment and attainment across each cohort of high school graduates in Florida. The analysis includes U.S. Census Bureau age bands up to age 64 and accounts for all the monetary flows over an individual’s working life attributable to each educational attainment status. Specifically, the attainment statuses included in the model are high school graduates, some college, associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, and advanced degrees. 

The findings discussed in this report are outputs from an economic model. Accordingly, they should be considered projections, or forecasts, of likely economic outcomes if Florida expands postsecondary enrollment and attainment. 

This report models the following scenarios that can be achieved through intentional policymaking and coordinated investments: 

  • A 10% increase in college enrollment (representing a change from 65% to 72% of the cohort or 14,450 new college students).
  • A 20% increase in college completion rates at the associate and bachelor’s degree levels (an increase to 46%of the cohort or 13,780 new degree awards).
  • A 10% increase in college readiness for all high school graduates (affecting 87% of the cohort or 180,210 students).
  • Equalization of college enrollment and completion rates by race (affecting 12% of the cohort or 24,560 new enrollees and degree awards). 

The model used in this analysis follows the methods of similar economic models for states across the U.S. and population subgroups. It is important to note that: 

  • Florida-specific data (2009–2022) from multiple federal and state sources populate the model.
  • The model cohort for this analysis consists of 206,470 students in Florida.
  • Economic consequences are modeled from age 18 (high school graduation) through age 65 (expected retirement).
  • All values are discounted back to age 18 and expressed as lump sum differences attributable to each educational status over an individual’s working life. For each scenario, the model used in this analysis accounts for the cost of new students attending college. 

Talent Strong Florida is dedicated to ensuring all Floridians have equitable access to education beyond high school.

Floridians who attain degrees and credentials during and beyond high school put more money into the pockets of Florida families and the economy. Homegrown talent makes businesses stronger.

Sign up to be a champion to ensure higher education results in higher rewards for all. 

Together we can build a Talent Strong Florida
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