by Emily Blaylock, Mobilize.org

While growing up, I was expected to continue onto some form of higher education, obtain a degree, and live the American Dream. Like many Americans, this was not just the social assumption—it was my personal expectation. Yet, there was one significant barrier in my way to both accessing and completing some form of postsecondary education: money.

In high school I became accustomed with the reality that I would be on my own for continuing onto college. I had good grades and potential academic scholarships on the horizon, but I knew they would not be enough to cover the skyrocketing costs of college tuition. Yet just weeks prior to high school graduation, I received a scholarship that not only offset tuition costs, but also the costs of: books, technology, transportation, and housing. I consider myself blessed and am still overwhelmed with gratitude for this scholarship.

In receiving this scholarship, each one of my barriers to college completion was alleviated. Prior to this, I came to recognize each impending barrier as I planned out my college career. I was trying to work out my schedule to take on two part-time jobs, coordinate with friends to carpool to class, pulling my resources to borrow books, and finding the nearest libraries to use their computers. Because of Kenneth Ford, a businessman in rural Oregon and his wife, Hallie, an educator, believed in the investment of a continuing education, I was the recipient of one of their scholarships. They invested in me through providing an education, in order that I may invest myself in my community.

While I never had to fully realize my barriers to college completion, I am aware that these hindrances are vast, and they are many. In fact, for the first time in the 21st century, the current generation of college-aged Americans will be less educated than their parents due to the immense barriers faced in obtaining their educational goals. Fewer than 46% of students at 4-year universities complete their degree within 6 years and only 3 out of 10 students attending community colleges complete their 2-year associate degree within 3 years.

Higher education is a primary factor in improving the state of our communities and our country, as individuals who complete some form of postsecondary education are able to earn higher wages, likely increasing the financial stability for themselves and their families. But if the current student population, all members of the Millennial Generation, is somehow falling short of achieving its educational goals, our country faces a significant problem with consequences impacting our nation for decades to come.

Given the current state of college completion and having overcome my barriers to college completion, I am honored to be a part of Mobilize.org’s Target: 2020 | My Education. Our Future Summit series. This October 22-24, 2010, Mobilize.org will bring together 150 of North Carolina’s most creative and passionate, students to work together and identify barriers they face in achieving their educational goals and develop student-led solutions to address them.

If you are a student enrolled in a North Carolina community college, who has faced or overcome difficulties in completing your education and you have creative ideas about ways you, your community and school can better support students, Mobilize.org wants to hear from you.

Apply to attend the Mobilize.org “Target: 2020 | My Education. Our Future.” Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina, October 22-24, 2010 where you will join 150 students from North Carolina’s community colleges to identify the barriers students face in achieving their educational goals and develop student-led solutions and community projects to address them. Summits will also be held in California and Florida in 2011, dates are TBD. If you are interested in attending, please click .

It’s your education, but it’s our future.

Emily Blaylock joined the Mobilize.org team May 2010 as the Executive Assistant just weeks after graduating from Corban University in Salem, Oregon. She received a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies, spending the last four years focusing on Business, Psychology, and Women’s Ministry. A more complete bio can be found here.