The Golden Ticket - How Raising Postsecondary Attainment Rates to 70 Percent for All Demographic Groups Would Unlock Decades of Prosperity in California

Oct 15, 2026

A policy report arguing that raising postsecondary attainment to 70% across all demographic groups in California would generate long-run prosperity. It projects which groups may miss the target by 2035, estimates large additional public investment needs, and quantifies monetary gains that can far exceed public costs. The analysis highlights benefits driven by Hispanic/Latino men and women and low-income adults, the amplified role of credential attainment among older adults, and regional differences in economic impact and required progress toward the goal.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages94

Reading Time3 h 57 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Part 1. Racial/Ethnic and Gender Disparities in Postsecondary Attainment

Part 2. The Anticipated Monetary Gains from Raising Attainment Rates to 70 Percent Across All Demographic Groups in California

Part 3. The Critical Importance of Increasing Credential Attainment Among Older Adults

Part 4. Ensuring All of California’s Regions Experience a Prosperous Future

Conclusion

References

Appendix A. Data Sources and Methodology

Appendix B. Demographics, Credential Attainment Rates, and Economic Impact Estimates by Economic Region

The Golden Ticket How Raising Postsecondary Attainment Rates to 70 Percent for All Demographic Groups Would Unlock Decades of Prosperity in California 2026 Zachary Mabel | Irene Koo | Jeff Strohl The Golden Ticket How Raising Postsecondary Attainment Rates to 70 Percent for All Demographic Groups Would Unlock Decades of Prosperity in California Zachary Mabel Irene Koo Jeff Strohl 2026 REPRINT PERMISSION This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) or adapt (remix, transform, and build upon) this material under the following license terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests that the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce endorses you or your use. Noncommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. This summary is not a substitute for the full legal text of the license. To view the full legal text, visit [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.)[.](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/.) [Our suggested citation for this material is:](Our suggested citation for this material is:) Mabel, Zachary, Irene Koo, and Jeff Strohl. The Golden Ticket: How Raising Postsecondary Attainment Rates to 70 Percent for All Demographic Groups Would Unlock Decades of Prosperity in California. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 2026. cew.georgetown. edu/california-postsecondary-attainment. Please email [cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu](cewgeorgetown@georgetown.edu) with any questions or to share your adaptations of this material. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to express our gratitude to College Futures Foundation for the generous support that made this report possible. We are especially grateful to Eloy Ortiz Oakley, Elizabeth González, Sara Sandhu, and Lenny Mendonca for their timely and thoughtful feedback on early findings and successive drafts of the report. The staff of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce was instrumental in the production of this report from conception to publication. In particular, we would like to thank • Artem Gulish for qualitative and quantitative feedback; • Ban Cheah for data analysis; • Kathryn Peltier Campbell for editorial and qualitative feedback; and • Katherine Hazelrigg, Fan Zhang, Johnna Guillerman, and Maryam Noor for communications efforts, including design development and public relations. Many others contributed their thoughts and feedback throughout the production of this report. We especially are grateful to our talented designers and editorial advisors, whose efforts were vital to thereport’s successful completion. Finally, we thank Lumina Foundation and the Gates Foundation for supporting prior work that informed this research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of College Futures Foundation or any of its officers or employees. All errors and omissions are the responsibility of the authors. CONTENTS Introduction 1 Part 1. Racial/Ethnic and Gender Disparities in Postsecondary Attainment 4 Many demographic groups are projected to fall short of the 70 percent attainment target in 2035, with Hispanic/Latino men and women furthest behind. 6 Reaching the 70 percent goal for all demographic groups will require an add

FAQs

What is the main goal of the report?

The report focuses on raising postsecondary attainment rates in California to 70% for all demographic groups and assessing the resulting long-term prosperity.

How does the report estimate investment needs and monetary gains?

It estimates additional public investment over the next decade and compares projected monetary benefits to those public costs, concluding that benefits would quickly exceed costs.

Why does the report emphasize older adults?

It argues that many underrepresented groups would not reach the 70% target by 2035 without substantially more older adults earning credentials, and it quantifies how older adults’ gains contribute to overall impact.

Oct 15, 2026

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