If you were listening to the State of the Union message from President Obama recently, your ears might have perked up at the mention of Louisville in his remarks. He referenced our city in connection with partnerships underway between local businesses and the University of Louisville and community colleges. Both U of L and community colleges offer the programs

UPS partners with Metropolitan College, itself a partnership between the UofL and Jefferson Community and Technical College, to offer free tuition and full time tuition for part time for UPS workers.  For the UPS program, students are not trained for particular jobs, but are prepared for the workplace with courses in financial literacy and job interviewing. The program has been a success for everyone. In figures from 2009, UPS saw their nearly 100% turnover of new hires drop to 20 from a year prior and realized a 600% rate of return on their investment. Fifty percent of the students who enrolled in Metropolitan College completed the program, which is good for Louisville, as a more educated workforce is prepared for the jobs of the future. There are similar program in place with Human Corp. and Signature Health Care.

An educated workforce is key to Louisville development, as many of today’s jobs require post-secondary education. In 2010, the Greater Louisville Education Commitment reported that in Louisville, only 30% of area residents hold a bachelor’s degree, which puts it 9^th among competitive peer cities. The rates for African American citizens is less than half that, which puts our city last in this group. The completion rates for all group are lower too.

The private-public organization formed after this study, 55,000 Degrees, aims to increase the number of college degrees held by Louisville citizens to 40,000 bachelor’s degree and 15,000 associate’s degrees – a total of 55,000 degrees by 2010. Doing this requires changes in thinking about the value of going to college, better affordability for post-secondary education, and involvement of the business community.

55,000 Degrees received over $1million  in support from local foundations to get started, plus $800,000 from the  Lumina Foundation to address how businesses can help working adults finish degrees. The partnership between UPS and area colleges was born out of this desire to make Louisville more educated.

If you want to live in a progressive city where we value education and see the connection between education and good jobs, come to Louisville. My team and I at Younger Group Real Estate can list your home and show you affordable homes in Butchertown, St. Matthews, The Highlands, and other great Louisville neighborhoods that are close to work and school.  Give us a call. We know Louisville.