The Talent Dividend Network
We know that educational attainment is the biggest predictor of success for cities and metro areas today. The research is unassailable.
In fact, 58% of a city's success, as measured by per capita income, can be explained by the percentage of the adult population with a college degree.
In a move to increase the political and civic will to produce more college graduates and thereby help cities capture real economic gains, CEOs for Cities has calculated the Talent Dividend. Increasing educational attainment, measured by raising the four-year college attainment rate by one percentage point in each of the 51 largest metropolitan areas, would be associated with an increase in per capita income of $124 billion per year for the nation. Monetizing these achievements serves as a powerful motivator to urban leaders to act urgently to achieve results.
In partnership with FutureWorks, CEOs for Cities launched the National Talent Dividend Network to accelerate the achievement of the Talent Dividend cities nationwide. This network composed of cross-sector teams from 23 cities meets twice annually for peer-to-peer conversations on strategies, successes and challenges in increasing college attainment rates.