The Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education (NOCHE) is moving forward with its goal of making the region a top-notch talent pool through higher learning. In December of last year, NOCHE held a summit on the Northeast Ohio Talent Dividend, an action plan to increase college attainment. The Talent Dividend is a national endeavor to increase college attendance and graduation in cities, motivated by research indicating that 58 percent of a city's success based on per capita income can be attributed to post-secondary attainment.

According to NOCHE, the Northeast Ohio Talent Dividend has three goals:
1) Improve college readiness
2) Increase retention to degree completion
3) Increase degree attainment among adults with some college but no degree

NOCHE plans to help the region attain these goals by focusing on existing local resources, which include dozens of higher education institutions and 160,000 companies with employment opportunities for college students and college graduates. According to Ann Womer Benjamin, NOCHE's executive director, increasing the talent dividend in Northeast Ohio by one percent can result in $2.8 billion in new income per year, which helps both individuals and the region.

Womer's current mission is to bring awareness of the Talent Dividend and its initiatives to educators and businesspeople in Northeast Ohio. A steering committee for the Talent Dividend consists of a number of education- and business-focused professionals, including Roseann Canfora of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Edward Hill of Cleveland State University and Shana Marbury of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. NOCHE will track ongoing progress of the Talent Dividend on its website.

SOURCE: NOCHE
WRITER: Diane DiPiero