{"id":4803,"date":"2015-07-21T16:01:09","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T16:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=4803"},"modified":"2023-01-24T19:15:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T19:15:29","slug":"ahead-of-the-curve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2015\/07\/21\/ahead-of-the-curve\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead of the Curve"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For more than five years, Augsburg College has undertaken important efforts to intentionally diversify the traditional undergraduate student profile. This work is not only a prudent move in terms of growing enrollment, but it is also proving to be an important factor in sustaining the region\u2019s economic health.<\/p>\n

This spring, more than 200 Augsburg College faculty and staff met with Minnesota State Demographer Susan Brower to discuss the \u201cshape and scale\u201d of the demographic trends in the state that will influence its vitality in the coming decades. Two significant trends detailed by Brower were the increasing diversity and aging of the state\u2019s population \u2013 trends that heighten the importance of education now and into the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have the capacity, going forward, to leave anyone behind.\u201d<\/strong> \u2014Susan Brower, Minnesota State Demographer<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Education will grow in importance because the relative size of our workforce affects economic production and the strength of our region. As older adults retire in the next 20 years and the workforce shrinks in proportion to the overall population, Minnesota will need the skills and talents of the entire working-age population.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers are going to have a much greater interest in bringing populations who previously may have been marginalized into productive work,\u201d Brower said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the capacity, going forward, to leave anyone behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Augsburg, this demographic reality is significant because about 25 percent of college-bound Minnesota high school graduates express interest in Augsburg by applying, inquiring, or visiting campus. In order to successfully enroll and retain these students, Augsburg needs to be intentional about meeting the educational needs of this diversifying population.<\/p>\n

Augsburg already has an important advantage in this area because, with nearly 33 percent students of color in the traditional undergraduate program, the College is one of the most diverse higher education institutions in the state. This is attractive to students of both minority and majority populations because it offers them the opportunity to learn and work with many different types of people, which is increasingly important given that the pace of demographic change will accelerate dramatically in the next 15 years.<\/p>\n

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Demographic Trend #1: Growing diversity.<\/h2>\n

If you went to college or lived in the Twin Cities before the 1990s, your experience with the diversity of the area\u2019s population was different from today\u2019s scenario.<\/p>\n

\"Twin<\/a><\/p>\n

A.<\/strong> Before 1980, fewer than 6 percent of the Twin Cities population were people of color, numbering only 25,000 to 115,000 people in the total population of 1.5 million to 2 million.<\/p>\n

B.<\/strong> The Twin Cities experienced accelerated growth among populations of color from 1990 to 2010. During that time, people of color represented more than 80 percent of the overall population growth.<\/p>\n

C.<\/strong> Today, the Twin Cities population is estimated at 3 million residents, with nearly 800,000\u2014about 26 percent\u2014people of color. This number is expected to reach 30 percent in the next 10 years.*<\/p>\n

*Other areas of the United States are experiencing similar diversity growth. The U.S. population in 2010 was 36 percent people of color.
\n**Sources: 2, 3<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s driving the growth in diversity?<\/h3>\n