Student success is key to Montana’s future economy

Montana State University President Waded Cruzado said it best: "Not every student who fails at math will abandon college, but almost every student who leaves college has failed at math." Over the past three years, the faculty of the MUS have engaged in two efforts to address student success with math.

Montana is an aging state. Approximately 25 percent of our workforce is 55 years old or older. Assuming most retire in the next 10 years, we stand to lose 126,000 people from our workforce of 505,000. A further challenge is that Montana’s high school graduation numbers are not expected to rebound to 2006 levels until 2023.

Montana’s economy is strong, with low unemployment rates, strong growth and increasing demand for new employees with a postsecondary credential. All of this underscores the importance of increasing the number of high school students who go on to college or apprenticeship programs, and ensuring they are successful.

JOHN CECH

http://missoulian.com/opinion/columnists/student-success-is-key-to-montana-s-future-economy/article_fe9c5ce3-8511-5e8e-9ceb-51c13ef968e8.html