Statement of Need Now more than ever, Arkansas is fully committed to enhancing education, making it a top priority, and ensuring that it is accessible to everyone. Education plays a crucial role in empowering individuals, strengthening communities, and driving the economic progress of the state. With a dwindling workforce and employers facing a shortage of skilled workers, Goodwill Industries of Arkansas is prepared to address these challenges by supplying a pipeline of individuals who are well-equipped to meet the demands of various industries. Our core mission is to bring about positive changes in people’s lives through education, training and employment. This is why our retail stores exist - to help individuals flourish, empower them, and enable their success as valuable members of society. Our Goodwill Training & Education Center (GTEC) in Northwest Arkansas will serve as a catalyst for transforming the region and, eventually, the entire state. More than 320,000 adults in Arkansas lack a high school diploma. There are approximately 46,000 adults over the age of 25 in Springdale and surrounding counties without a high school diploma. At least 60% of all jobs in the U.S. require education beyond high school. People who do not finish high school face a lifetime of challenges.
• Individuals without a high school diploma are less likely to have full-time employment. The average dropout can expect to earn an annual income of $20,241, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s $10,386 less per year and more than $500,000 less in lifetime earnings than the typical high school graduate.* • The unemployment rate for individuals without a high school diploma is nearly twice that of the general population.** • Dropouts are more likely to commit crimes, abuse drugs and alcohol, become teenage parents, live in poverty and commit suicide.** • Dropouts cost federal and state governments hundreds of billions of dollars in lost earnings, welfare and medical costs, and billions more for dropouts who end up in prison.** According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the national average income for professionals with a high school diploma is $712 per week, or $37,024 per year. The BLS bases their data on employees ages 25 years and older, and salaries can vary based on their industry, occupation, completion of training programs,
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* Breslow, J. (2012, September 21), By the Numbers: Dropping Out of High School. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/by-the-numbers-dropping-out-of-high-school ** Johnson, C. (2011, July 24). Series Overview: The Cost of Dropping Out. https://www.npr.org/2011/07/24/138508517/series-overview-the-cost-of-dropping-out
Appr ox. 46,000 adults in NWA are without a high school diploma At least 60% of all jobs in the U.S. require education beyond high school 2X unemployment rate for individuals without a high school diploma
Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, Inc.
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