In 2020, Cape Cod’s educational system will be characterized by community involvement and a high level of communication in the educational process.   Our educational institutions will include curricula designed to promote problem solving and creative thinking, which in turn will result in better solutions.   The Cape will have a diverse economy and housing alternatives that allow people of all incomes to reside on the Cape, which will drive our formal and informal educational needs.

Cape Cod communities will offer a continuum of formal educational opportunities for children and adults ranging from pre-school through advanced education and continuing education for adults.   Informal educational opportunities available through a variety of non-profit organizations will contribute to the region’s capacity to meet the educational needs of its residents and workforce.     

Continuing Education is perhaps a community’s most important asset.   Continuous education makes it possible for people to acquire new knowledge and skills at any stage of their life and to use that new knowledge to become more productive.   This aggregate pool of knowledge residing within a community and the community’s ability to put that knowledge to productive use is sometimes referred to as human capital.   According to the Glossary of International Economics by Alan V. Deardoff, human capital is: 1) the knowledge and skill, embodied in an individual as a result of education, training, and experience, that makes them more productive, and 2) the stock of knowledge and skill embodied in the population of an economy.

A primary issue for Cape Cod as it transitions into the 21st century is whether or not we are providing for the human capital needs of Cape Cod.   If, as a region, we seek to become more economically diverse and to create a greater number of higher-income jobs, we should try to maximize the region’s human capital.   Several questions come to mind:  

•  Are we making certain that our youth are receiving top quality educations?  

•  Are we cultivating motivated students?  

•  Are we doing all we can to provide special assistance to unmotivated students as they struggle to improve their performance?

•  Are we hiring qualified teachers with a passion for teaching?

•  Are we adequately challenging the best and the brightest of our students?  

•  Are we providing opportunities for skill enhancement and career advancement for our existing workforce?  

•  Are we providing opportunities for earning advanced degrees in fields that will define Cape Cod’s future economy?  

•  Are we taking advantage of Cape Cod’s entrepreneurial spirit and, through education, harnessing it to promote innovation, efficiency, profitability and job growth?

These are just some the questions that lie at the root of the human capital needs of the region in 2020 and beyond.   While answers to most of these questions are beyond the scope of this report, the report does attempt to shed some light on the subject by looking at a small selection of data pertaining to educational attainment, teacher salaries and the status of Cape Cod Community College’s certificate and degree programs.

Educational Attainment

US Census data on educational attainment was compared across Barnstable County, Berkshire County, Middlesex County, Norfolk County, and Plymouth County.   Two categories were researched: percent of residents graduated from high school and percent of residents having a bachelors degree or higher.

The data indicates that residents of Barnstable County between the ages of 25 and 64 are more likely to have a high school degree or higher than those 65 years or older.   In general, within each county, a higher percentage of high school graduates were found in the lower age brackets.

The percentage of high school graduates or higher in the 45-64 and 65+ age brackets in Barnstable County exceeds comparable percentages for the other four counties.   On the other hand, the percentage of Barnstable County residents in the 25-34 and 35-44 age brackets with a bachelor degree or higher is dramatically less than comparable percentages for either Middlesex or Norfolk Counties.

The most conspicuous comparisons across the five counties occurs in the 45-64 and 65 plus age brackets where a significantly higher percentage of residents of Barnstable County have achieved a high school degree or higher (94.2% and 88.0% respectively) and where a significantly higher percentage (29.9%) of residents 65 years and older have achieved a bachelors degree or higher.  

This data supports the conclusion that the most highly educated segments of Barnstable County’s workforce are found among those residents who are either retired or well into the second half of their working lives.   It also indicates that among the five counties researched, Barnstable County is unique in that its oldest workers and retirees are its most highly educated residents.

Average Teacher Salaries

The average teacher salary for Barnstable County for the 2004/2005 school year was $50,880 as compared to the statewide average of $54,854.   Average teacher salaries across Barnstable County ranged from $37,440 in Truro to $67,911 in Brewster.   The Town of Barnstable (which is the Cape’s largest public school district with 507 Full Time Equivalent teachers) had the second lowest average salary ($40,688).   Removing the Town of Barnstable from the Cape-wide average salary calculation still results in a Cape-wide average salary ($53,597) that is lower than the state-wide average ($54,584).   For comparison, the table to the right displays average teacher salaries for a selection of Massachusetts towns.

Cape Cod Community College Degree/Certificate Programs

Cape Cod Community College (CCCC) is a major education and training resource for those seeking to improve their skills and acquire good paying jobs and mobility within the workforce.   The College offers an Associate in Arts (AA) Degree, several Associate in Science (AS) Degrees, and numerous Certificate programs.   Students who have earned an AA Degree from the Community College often transfer to a four-year college in pursuit of more advanced degrees.   Some students who earn an AS Degree or a Certificate also pursue advanced degrees elsewhere, but more often they enter the workforce.   A primary reason for this is that coursework within the AS Degree program area, as well as the Certificate programs, provide practical training for many technical jobs offered on the Cape such as nursing and criminal justice.   Students who obtain either an AS Degree or a Certificate thus tend to seek employment immediately upon graduation.

Matriculation and graduation data for 2001 and 2005 for the two major degree areas and the Certificate programs provide insight into the types of skills that students in the College are acquiring.   This information can tell us something about the quality and diversity of the existing workforce as well as the trends which will shape the workforce of the future.

In 2001, approximately 75% of those who enrolled in one or more concentrations falling under the AA Degree umbrella were in five areas: liberal arts, science/math and pre-engineering, business administration, psychology, and education – all broad subject areas that create a good foundation for students planning to continue studying elsewhere.   In practice, however, many science/math and pre-engineering students plan to complete required science courses and then enroll in the College’s selective-admissions nursing program, rather than transfer to a four-year institution.   In 2005, approximately 72% of the AA Degree seekers were in these five transfer areas.  

In 2001, close to 50% of those students pursuing an AA Degree had chosen what are generically referred to as knowledge-intensive areas of study. [1]   These areas included mass communications, science/math/pre-engineering, business administration, accounting, education, engineering science, environmental studies, public relations, communication and graphic design.   In 2005, approximately 45% of AA Degree-seekers were enrolled in the knowledge-intensive areas of study.

Associate in Arts Degree Enrollees, 2001 and 2005

In 2001, in the AS Degree area, students tended to be clustered around nursing, hospitality, criminal justice, and information technology (IT).   Of the 863 students enrolled in Associate in Science Degree programs in Fall 2005, the top five programs by enrollment were criminal justice (171), nursing (124), management (89), information technology (82 in nine IT concentrations) and early childhood education (69).   Associate in Science enrollments can reflect conditions in the job market.   For example, 25% of all AS Degree-seekers in 2001 were in information technology.   This represented a three-fold increase over 1998 enrollments in this area.   In 2005, IT Degree-seekers were approximately 10% of all AS Degree-seekers.

Associate in Science Degree, Fall 2005  

Only a fraction of matriculated students graduate in any given year.   In Fall 2000, for instance, there were 3,063 matriculated students enrolled in the College.   By June of 2001, 307 matriculated students had received an AA or AS Degree.   In Fall 2004, there were 3,020 matriculated students enrolled in the College.   By June 2005, 345 matriculated students had received an AA or AS Degree.   This reflects the nature of the community college mission which is designed to offer a flexible academic menu to a socioeconomically diverse regional audience with multiple educational needs.   Many students at the College are older and already employed and therefore interested only in the occasional course to boost their skills.   Some are pursuing formal degrees but can only attend the College on a part-time basis due to their daytime work.   Others are enrolled full-time.

Each Spring the College collects data for an educational and employment status report on AA, AS, and some certificate graduates from the previous academic year.   Of the 333 selected graduates from the Class of 2001, 103 were enrolled one year later at twenty different four-year institutions of higher learning.   The top five transfer institutions by enrollment of the Class of 2001 were the University of Massachusetts (50 enrolled at four campuses), Bridgewater State College (17), Suffolk University (8), Westfield State College (6) and Wellesley College (5).    Of the 385 selected graduates from the Class of 2004, 104 were enrolled one year later at twenty-two different four-year institutions.   The top five transfer institutions by enrollment of the Class of 2004 were the University of Massachusetts (41 enrolled at four campuses), Suffolk University (23), Bridgewater State College (16), Lesley University (5) and Salem State College (3).   

Educational Status Report on AA, AS and Certificate Graduates

Cape Cod Community College is a publicly-assisted institution.   The College’s annual unrestricted appropriation from the Massachusetts state legislature is an important part of this assistance.   In FY2001, the College’s appropriation was $14,040,479.   In FY2004, the College’s appropriation was $10,789,358, a 23% decrease from FY2001.

(Sources: CCCC Office of Institutional Research and Development, CCCC 2001 and 2004 Graduation Reports.)

Advanced Degrees on Cape Cod through Cape Cod Community College

Through CCCC’s Office of Advanced Studies, the College has partnership agreements with nine higher education institutions offering five Bachelor’s Degree programs and nine Master’s Degree programs at the CCCC West Barnstable campus and at the Hyannis Center.   Through these programs students are able to receive an advanced degree without having to leave the Cape, saving the average student approximately 100 miles in travel per class.   These degree programs are a key component in meeting the workforce development needs of the region.

Partnerships with Institutions of Higher Education 

Programs of study include business and public administration, early childhood education, nursing, humanities and communications at the bachelor’s level.   Master’s Degrees are offered in reading, counseling, educational administration, social work, early childhood education, business administration, public administration, communication and special education.

Since 1998 the enrollment in baccalaureate programs has increased from 59 to 846 in FY 2005.   In May 2001, 31 students received a Bachelor’s Degree though these partnerships.   In May 2005, 64 students had received a Bachelor’s Degree.

Since 1998 the enrollment in graduate degree programs has increased from 185 students to 880 in FY2005.   In May 2001, 34 students received a Master’s Degree.   In May 2005, 57 students received a Master’s Degree.

[1] Knowledge-intensive is a term used by economic and labor analysts to describe those industries where knowledge is the primary input and output.   The Cape and Islands Workforce Investment Board posits that the knowledge-intensive cluster consists of three sub-clusters: educational services, high technology and professional services.   The term is used somewhat loosely here to describe Community College program areas that can be reasonably assumed to fall within the knowledge-intensive arena.

This is a list of high-priority actions, that if taken by targeted audience, would accelerate progress toward the 2020 vision and long-term goal.