College Education Consortium Announced

Education leaders in Northwest Arkansas have put together a program they hope will increase the percentage of area residents with a college degree.

The program, Graduate NWA, encourages residents to complete their college degree at one of five partner institutions. Details were announced Tuesday at a news conference at Tyson Foods Inc. corporate headquarters in Springdale.

The consortium includes John Brown University, Northwest Arkansas Community College, Northwest Technical Institute, the University of Arkansas and UAMS Northwest. Representatives from each school spoke briefly at Tuesday’s announcement.

The nonprofit group Northwest Arkansas Council took the lead in rolling out Tuesday’s message, which came less than two months after the group announced the launch of a national marketing plan designed to share the region’s attributes.

John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods and co-chair of the NAC, spoke briefly at the beginning of Tuesday’s news conference, lauding the work of NAC president and CEO Mike Malone and the new branding program.

“But if we don’t layer in education appropriately and in the right way,” he cautioned, “all of these efforts will go to waste.”

John Brown III, whose grandfather founded JBU in 1919, is chairman of the NAC’s Educational Excellence Work Group and led Tuesday’s news conference. He said to increase the competitiveness of Northwest Arkansas, the region needs to increase its number of residents who have advanced education.

The benefits of a college degree will put residents in better position to earn a higher wage, and also make Northwest Arkansas more attractive to companies interested in relocating or expanding in the area.

“It’s a cycle of education and economic development that we are trying to encourage,” Brown said.

Brown noted the percentage of residents in Northwest Arkansas age 25 or over with a college degree is 25 percent. Similar regions have degree rates near 30 percent.

“Within ten years, we would hope that 30 percent or more of our residents 25 and older would have a baccalaureate degree,” Brown said.

The website www.graduatenwa.com provides a variety of information to adults interested in returning to school. It guides visitors to a person at each of the partner schools who can answer specific questions.

The NAC, Tyson Foods and the Arkansas Department of Higher Education have offered their support financially, Brown said. He is hoping to attract more partners for the program, “so we can reach the largest audience possible” through marketing efforts.

Graduate NWA also has partnered with the chambers of commerce in the five largest cities in Benton and Washington counties to increase the program’s visibility.

“My concern is that we not have a four-month splash and then dissipate,” Brown said. “We want this to be a sustained effort.”