New poll reveals barriers Arizonans face to higher education

Education Forward Arizona, as part of its Everything to Gain campaign, unveiled a second poll in an ongoing series for the state of Arizona. The results show that regardless of socioeconomic status, most Arizonans who never completed a degree or program outside of high school see the value of additional education or training. Costs, whether financial, time or opportunity, are the major barriers to why Arizonans did not pursue or did not complete education or training after high school. 

Some of the stats:

• 54% say they would be better off with more education and training after high school. 60% say that cost kept them from continuing their education.  
• 62% of mothers cited the cost as a major barrier compared to 44% of fathers. 
• 32% of mothers said the cost of childcare was a major barrier compared to 22% of fathers. 
• 53% of Latino respondents indicated that working to support their families financially is a major barrier to completing education or training after high school, compared to 39% of their white non-Hispanic counterparts.

Rich Nickel, President and CEO of Education Forward Arizona, joined “Arizona Horizon” to break down the numbers even further.

“I think over the last few years, we’ve heard some divisive messaging and narrative about is post-secondary education or education after high school worth it, who should be going, should we put more people into trades… all this,” Nickel said. “What we decided to do is really think about the data that could tell that story.”

Nickel explained that the campaign means that Arizona has everything to gain if people in the state get a degree or certificate through training and education after high school.

“We’re trying to do some things now to really get that word out that it is valuable, it is worth it and we need those people to be part of this 21st century workforce,” Nickel said.