State Goal: Get 60 Percent of Texans a College Degree By 2030

Last month, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board adopted a new plan called 60x30TX. The overarching goal: to get 60 percent of Texans between 25 and 34 a college degree or certificate by 2030. The coordinating board says the goal focuses on 25 to 34-year-olds as an indicator of the economic future of the state and its ability to remain globally competitive.

The benchmark was set in the coordinating board's 15-year strategic plan. Additional goals the coordinating board set include: ensuring at least 550,000 students in Texas earn a certificate or degree that year, and keeping undergraduates' student loan debt to 60 percent or less of their first-year wages.

To talk more about the newly set 15-year plan for higher education in the state, we talk with Dr. Raymund Paredes, the state’s Commissioner of Higher Education, from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.