National foundation aimed at improving grad rates launches in Fresno

A national organization aimed at improving graduation rates launched its campaign Wednesday in Fresno, partnering with Fresno State and Fresno Unified School District among other educational agencies.

Fresno has been selected as one of Lumina Foundation’s 75 Community Partnerships for Attainment. The new campaign, Central Valley Goal 2025, aims to accelerate college completion, accentuate what institutions are already accomplishing to meet student needs and influence education policy.

Leaders from Fresno State, Fresno Unified, University of California at Merced, Fresno Pacific University and others came together to form a panel on Wednesday for the campaign launch at Tornino’s Banquet Hall in Fresno.

Lumina’s national Goal 2025 is to increase the proportion of Americans with high quality degrees to 60 percent by 2025. According to the 2013 U.S. Census Bureau, the Educational Attainment Rate for Fresno was 27 percent compared to the U.S. average of 36.1 percent.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 6:39 PM with the headline "National foundation aimed at improving grad rates launches in Fresno."