Degrees That Work. Employer Toolkit

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1 Degrees That Work Employer Toolkit

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 The Benefits of Investing in Your Employees 5 Implementing a Degree Completion Program to Support Working Adults 9 Encourage 9 Inform 12 Facilitate 16 Engage 18 Getting Results and Measuring Success Degree Completion Report Card 22 2

3 Introduction Thank you for your commitment to your employees. You are now part of a movement to significantly increase degree attainment in our region. You have also decided to implement strategies and protocols that will help to develop your workforce and give you a competitive edge in the increasingly global marketplace. Investing in educational opportunities for your employees will have the added benefit of increasing the productivity and innovation that exists within your workplace. ST. LOUIS TOP TEN INITIATIVE We recognize that the future of St. Louis depends on our region s level of educational attainment. In fact, we believe that no factor is more critical to the future prosperity of the region than education since educational attainment increases incomes, attracts private enterprises, and stimulates innovation. While we currently rank 14th highest in the percentage of our population with college degrees, we maintain the following goal: By 2025, St. Louis will be in the top ten of the nation s 20 largest metros in educational attainment based on the number of bachelor degrees or higher. As an employer, you will play a critical role in helping our region benchmark progress in this important work because you are most directly connected to a group of people that can more easily move the needle in the college completion goal: your employees. Based on data gathered by the St. Louis Regional Chamber, it is estimated that nearly 400,000 adults in the metropolitan area have begun some form of college education though they have not completed a degree. By agreeing to collaborate in this endeavor, you will contribute to a powerful educational infrastructure that will contribute to our region s economic development. The St. Louis Regional Chamber maintains the following goals for its working adults strategy: To inspire, encourage, and engage employers throughout the region in support of educational attainment among working adults. To share and celebrate exemplary practices in employee learning and development. To implement a coordinated, employer-driven program to raise college completion rates among working adults. 3

4 Degrees That Work and The Employer Toolkit Degrees That Work is a new program launched by the St. Louis Regional Chamber in partnership with the St. Louis business community. The program will manifest itself in the form of the Employer Toolkit, support mechanisms to help businesses implement key policies, and regular opportunities to engage in discussions about best practices that support degree completion. The following toolkit was prepared with a focus on best serving the employer. It is based on the latest research and utilizes practices that are being implemented by some of the most successful companies in many different regions. It borrows some of the best ideas from toolkits used in other regions to increase educational attainment. In using the toolkit, we understand that not all of the features may easily apply to your company. The size of your company, the financial resources available, and the particular goals and objectives of your company will ultimately determine the strategies that are most applicable. Cognizant of the diversity of our business community, the toolkit was designed to provide numerous strategies to meet the particular needs of the employers and employees it serves. 4

5 Implementing the Toolkit and Reviewing Progress As we progress in our goal of increasing educational attainment opportunities for working adults in our region, the Chamber and our partners in the educational attainment movement are committed to providing you support in the implementation of the toolkit. Part of our effort to measure our progress in implementing best practices that get results will be the use of a Report Card. The Report Card will be used by companies to self-audit their ability to accelerate the process for helping their employees to pursue further education. It is meant to guide the company in achieving measurable outcomes in assisting their working adults to actually attain a college degree. As the Degrees That Work programs evolves, we will take time to collectively review our status in pursuing the ultimate goal of significantly increasing the opportunities for pursuing education in our region. We hope that you find the following resources to be helpful in the effort to adopt practices that will increase the skill set of your employees and that will ensure your company s continued success. 5

6 The Benefits of Investing in Your Employees A PROSPEROUS FUTURE A better tomorrow lies within the reach of the St. Louis region. It will be a time of economic and community prosperity, supported by a well-educated, diverse, and expanding workforce. As we stretch toward this future, no effort is more important than developing, engaging, and retaining the talent that will make it real. The St. Louis Regional Chamber and its Talent Council encourage our colleagues in the business community to join the growing network of employers focused on this goal. Talent is the leading indicator of vitality in today s competitive knowledge economy. Economic development decision-makers gauge the quality of a region s talent pool by the concentration of college degrees in the population. Today, St. Louis ranks 14th among the nation s 20 largest metros on this important metric. If many stakeholders pull together, we can lift our region from 14th to 10th place or better. Being in the top ten in talent will clearly differentiate St. Louis as an attractive market in the competitive global economy. Achieving the top ten goal by 2025 will require an additional 75,000 college degrees over the forecast trend line. When St. Louis reaches that level, a full 39 percent of our adult population will have undergraduate or graduate credentials. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO BUSINESS? There are many reasons why business should care about this goal. Here are just three First, an increasing number of jobs now require post-secondary credentials. BA or advanced degrees are preferred for more than half the in-demand positions in key economic sectors. Without an adequate pool of college degrees, these positions will not be filled. Second, talented high-performers are attracted to regions with a density of college-educated individuals and a wealth of employers committed to continuous learning. If St. Louis is known as a region that s moving up the educational ladder, we will become a magnet for the kinds of talented people we want to attract and retain. And third, an analysis conducted by CEOs for Cities demonstrates that per capita income goes up when the college attainment level rises in a region. In metro St. Louis, that can mean an annual increase of as much as $2.4 billion for every percentage point increase in adults with college degrees. 6

7 THE CALL FOR BUSINESS LEADERSHIP College and university leadership across the bi-state area are taking important steps to improve college retention and completion rates within their institutions and throughout the region as a whole. They are working with a diverse population of nearly 210,000 students. These students include traditional age college-goers fresh out of high school, veterans, the unemployed, and adults who are working, raising a family, and going to school at the same time. The current stop-out and drop-out rates among all these groups must be reduced, and a significantly higher percentage must persist and complete their degrees if the region is to reach our top ten goal. There is one area in particular where colleges and universities cannot fully succeed without the initiative and active engagement of the business community: working adults. Nearly 380,000 residents over age 25 in our region have some college credits, but never finished their degrees. Most of these adults are working for employers that have a unique ability to inform, encourage, and support them. EMPLOYEE INVESTMENT IN CONTINUING EDUCATION Research conducted by the St. Louis Regional Chamber and 17 employer partners confirms that many working adults are already enrolled in college and that they are very motivated to complete a degree. Nearly two-thirds of 4,000 employees who responded to our 2012 survey indicated they have taken one or more college courses for credit since entering the workforce. Of those pursuing an undergraduate degree, 44 percent are within 30 credit hours of finishing. The employees identified their top motivators as career advancement, personal satisfaction, a desire to earn more money, and the wish to be a good role model to their children. THE OPPORTUNITY THAT EXISTS You have the opportunity to build a talent base for your company that will fuel its long-term sustainability. You also have the opportunity to invest in your employees, knowing that this investment will yield rewards in an increase in job satisfaction, an increase in productivity, and an enhanced skill set that will ensure that your company is dynamic. Supporting employees in pursuing their educational goals is one of the surest ways to guarantee that your business grows and thrives in an increasingly complex market. 7

8 Assessing Your Current Efforts Before beginning to adopt any new practices, it is important to consider what you are currently doing to support your employees in completing a degree or in pursuing continuing education opportunities that strengthen the skill set of your workforce. The checklist below has been used by others to effectively gauge the health of current practices. CHECKLIST WORKPLACE SUPPORTS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION Your company currently... Articulates the goal of higher education attainment for its employees Includes education goals in performance reviews Provides education advising to employees Mentors employees on education and training Offers employee flexibility to pursue education goals Partners with education/training institutions to promote educational opportunities Reimburses some or all of tuition and fees Establishes College Savings and/or Lifelong Learning Accounts as payroll deduction benefit Offers loans or loan forgiveness programs to employees to manage student debt Celebrates completion of degrees, certifications or classes Ties salary/wage or job mobility to education level 8

9 Implementing a Degree Completion Program to Support Working Adults Encourage: Emphasize the Importance of College Completion in the Workplace WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: The effort to increase educational attainment in the workplace must be intentional. By emphasizing the importance of college completion through Employee Development Plans, celebrating the completion of degrees, and other workplace practices you are providing the necessary encouragement that will motivate employees to not only consider pursuing a degree, but also to persevere in the completion of the degree. WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: Incorporate a philosophy of educational attainment by emphasizing learning in career development and individual development plans: Make the career development and individual development plan a prominent feature of their on-boarding documents and their performance review documents. Encourage supervisors to review employee s development plans and provide their employees feedback on how their plans can support their professional development. Refer to the supporting articles and resources of The Degrees That Work program for helpful steps in developing an Individual Development Plan. Create a career development path for employees that allows supervisors to address gaps in education: Encourage and allow supervisors to be able to identify how employees educational goals would enhance their productivity or increase their ability to make meaningful contributions to the company. 9

10 Supervisors should give projects and tasks that encourage the application of newly acquired skills, thereby enabling employees to see the value of what they are doing in pursuing the degree. Create a partnership with a college/university and your Human Resource department or HR leader. Part of this partnership could involve creating new development plans that align desired skills to essential coursework. Celebrate completion of degrees, certifications or classes: Highlight the accomplishments of an employee in your company newsletter or intranet who is pursuing their degree and/or recently graduated. Throw a graduation celebration luncheon. Present a letter/certificate from the CEO with words of encouragement upon enrollment and graduation. Plan meetings centered on recognizing opportunities for continued learning; create forums for celebrating the success of employees and for engaging others in the process for enrolling, selecting courses, and managing the work-life balance. Foster one-on-one communication between supervisors and employees about next steps in career development: Continuous professional development and growth should be expected of all employees and all supervisors should reinforce this expectation. Educational attainment should affect employee s current position, promotions and transfers to new positions: Individual needs: What level of education does the employee want to achieve? Departmental needs: Assess the impact of acquiring these skills on the bottom line, including the cost of providing needed education. Organizational needs: Align the employee s educational and development goals to the company or organization s ability to achieve its mission. Tie salary/wage or job increases to educational level. 10

11 Additional Steps to Ensure Success: To ensure that educational attainment becomes a value for your company, you need to take some strong measures to invest your employees in this important work. Getting supervisors and managers to buy into the educational attainment goal and celebrating the success of the company is very important to these efforts. Everything from policies to daily practices should be, in some way, tied to the education attainment imperative. Listed below are some additional things that you can do to implement an effective strategy for encouraging your employees: Your company s mission or vision statement should contain references to promoting degree completion and continuing learning opportunities. Your company s leadership team should be the biggest advocate for providing employees the tools and resources needed to succeed; there should be incentives for the leadership team supervisors and managers to get their employees enrolled in a program that will serve their employees interests as well as those of the company. Keep company goals related to education attainment posted so that all can see the progress employees are making in pursuing further education. Develop a plan for celebrating and acknowledging the success of employees who pursue further education. Audit your company to determine needs. Ask your supervisors what skills they are looking for and determine the best programs/degrees to support those goals. Guide employees to degree programs that will complement their professional goals while also helping them to contribute to the company. Determine pay increases or pay grades based on education level or the effort to increase education; ensure that this is a prominent feature of the employee handbook and that it is noted in the on-boarding process. 11

12 Inform: Empower Employees to be Smart Consumers WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: The cost of college, or limited information about how to pay for college, often discourages employees from pursuing a college degree. Educate employees on the cost of going to college, including tuition, books, fees and other materials, while also providing access to financial assistance. These costs are often unnecessarily seen as an overwhelming barrier for those who want to return to college. For those who know there could be financial assistance, many believe it is too complicated and confusing to search for and apply for financial aid. This does require some research and paperwork. However, there are many avenues of help for those willing to commit to the pursuit of a bachelor s degree, and we can help your employees with this. WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: There is a variety of financial assistance available to help pay the cost of attending college: Grants Awards based on need that do not need to be repaid. Scholarships Work-Study Student Loans Waivers Awards based on achievement academic, athletic, or service. These are merit-based and do not need to be repaid. Part-time employment that lets a student earn money toward a college education either on or off campus. Money borrowed from a bank, the govermment, or a school. A student loan must be repaid. However, low interest rates are available, and repayment doesn t start until a student leaves school, drops below part-time status, or graduates. These eliminate certain cost for student who meet certain qualifications set by the post-secondary institution. Military Benefits Financial aid offered to individuals (or their dependents) who were, are, or will be in the U.S. Armed Forces. 12

13 Ideas on how to provide employees with financial assistance information: Host a lunch and learn college fair Provide a resource guide Train a college advocate within the company or establish a one-stop information area Provide education advising to employees Here are a few web resources on financial assistance: Missouri Department of Higher Ed: Illinois Student Assistance Commission: FinAid: MAKE CREDIT COUNSELING AVAILABLE: Help employees navigate the complex world of college financing by making credit counseling services available on-site or through referrals Employers can arrange for training for existing employee assistance staff, or connect employees with outside resources Neutral, non-profit providers: Center for Excellence in Financial Counseling - Nation Foundation for Credit Counseling

14 FAFSA GUIDANCE One of the challenges employees may face in enrolling in college is the ability to navigate FAFSA. The documents can sometimes be confusing and the process might be intimidating. It is important to reduce the level of intimidation when approaching the FAFSA to ensure that one more possible barrier is eliminated. The U.S. Department of Education uses the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to determine eligibility for federal financial aid. By completing this form, your employees may qualify for a variety of federal programs, including Pell grants, and from hundreds of state-sponsored financial aid programs. A description of each of the federal programs may be found on the Federal Student Aid website: HOW DOES IT WORK? To be eligible for financial aid, your employees must: Be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, or an eligible non-citizen Have a valid Social Security number Have a high school diploma or GED or for adult students, pass an Ability-to- Benefit test Be registered with the U.S. Selective Service (for male students, age 18-25) Complete a FAFSA form promising to use any federal aid for education purposes Not owe refunds on any federal student grants Not be in default on any student loans Not have been found guilty of the sale or possession of illegal drugs while federal aid was being received 14

15 MAKING INFORMATION MORE ACCESSIBLE: To ensure comfort with the process for completing the FAFSA, there should be a process in place for guiding employees through the application. It is important that you make information available, but if you want to make it easier on your employees, you should consider adopting a few practices around FAFSA awareness and application completion. Consider doing the following: Stress the importance of completing the FAFSA at all meetings related to pursuing further education; understanding the financial options available is critical to the process of beginning a new program. Print copies of the FAFSA with a brief packet that will serve as a tutorial for the process for completing the necessary documents. Your College Advocate or the Education Champions in your workplace, especially those who have pursued a degree while working, should coach someone through the application or simply serve as a resource or support mechanism for someone going through the process the first time. Make sure that the College Advocate is comfortable with the FAFSA application. Post reminders about the FAFSA around the office. Send an communication or newsletter reminders about the need to complete the FAFSA form as you approach January. Employees should file their FAFSA application not long after the beginning of the year. Invite financial aid specialists to the workplace, especially for seminars or college fairs related to pursuing further education. Direct your employees to the FAFSA website: 15

16 Facilitate: Help Drive Down Costs WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: Simply providing access to information related to financial aid is not enough to encourage employees to undergo the significant time commitment that further study requires. Financial incentives to complete a degree or to accumulate credit hours that will enhance their skills are necessary to give them the extra push to enroll in a program. Remember that there will be a return on the investment you put into your employees. Subsidizing their pursuits will lead to the increased productivity, skill development, and commitment that will ensure that the company continues to grow and sustain its success. WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: Establish a College Tuition Reimbursement Program and other Financial Support Programs The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows tax free contributions up to $5,250 each year. When considering how to design a tuition reimbursement program, give some thought to how you will fund the program. You can offer a fixed amount to be applied towards education, and this can be standardized across the company, or you can offer incentives based on performance. Fully funding any course an employee receives an A in or only partially funding courses where a B or C is earned might provide the extra motivation for your employees to push themselves. Ultimately, this question will undoubtedly depend on the size of your company and the resources available to fund education. Be mindful of what process will best serve the needs and capacities of your business. Be sure to advise your employees to ask about this option as they meet with their College Advocate. Implement a company scholarship program. Negotiate tuition or fee discounts with colleges and universities by creating partnerships. Reimburses some or all of tuition and fees. Sets up college savings or life-long learning accounts as a payroll deduction benefit. Forgive college loans. Partner with education/training institutions to offer classes on-site. 16

17 Encourage Credit for Non-Collegiate Learning PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT: Administering a Prior Learning Assessment is essential for helping your employees to begin the process of pursuing further education. The assessment is commonly used to evaluate whether any experiences outside of postsecondary education would count towards credit. Work experience, special certifications, and portfolios may all count towards credit, which will save your employee time and you money when considering how much might be wasted on courses that are not necessary. College credit earned for work experience often appears in the following ways: Student Portfolios Review examples of an applicant s work or conduct one-on-one interviews. Employer training Evaluate employer training programs and/or professional development. Challenge exams or customized exams CLEP Exams (College Level Examination Program) DSST Exams (formely known as the Dantes program) ACE (American Council on Education) National Guide to College Credit for Workorce Training Colleges or their departments may offer exams to verify learning achievement. Tests college material and is offered by the College Board. Tests knowledge of both lower-level and upper-level college material. Recommends college credit equivalents for formal instructional programs offered by non-collegiate agencies, such as professional or trade associations. www2.acenet.edu/credit/?fuseaction=browse.main ACE (American Council on Education) Military Guide Published credit recommendations for formal military training. BE FLEXIBLE When it does not interfere with work flow, allow working students some flexibility in balancing school, work, and family. Ad hoc arrangements, such as allowing employees to leave early on exam days or to attend a daytime lecture. Arrangements can accommodate needs of both employee and supervisors. Offer employee flextime to pursue education goals Formal arrangements such as four-day work weeks. 17

18 Engage: Encourage Peer Support WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: Many employees are hesitant to begin an educational program because they have to pursue it independently. The time commitment, the challenges of balancing family and work, and the potential difficulty of beginning new coursework can make the pursuit of a new educational program a lonely road. By encouraging employees to find resources in their colleagues, you will ensure that some of these initial hesitations will not be a barrier to pursuing a degree. WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE: Decide how a program could operate Should employees meet face-to-face (when and how often), communicate via intranet messaging, or participate in a social network site? Perhaps all three of these methods of support should be in place. Invite employees to attend information sessions. Publicize the session on your intranet, in your newsletter or using other internal information systems. Ask your company-based College Advocate to monitor and support the community. Your College Advocate can play a significant role in motivating and engaging your employees. Make sure that you find someone who possesses the following qualities: A radiating sense of enthusiasm and passion for educational attainment. A willingness to learn key aspects of managing the process for enrolling in college, accumulating credits, and completing a degree. A sense of empathy for effectively coaching and mentoring employees who may find the process of pursuing a degree to be challenging. 18

19 MENTORING AND PEER STUDY OPPORTUNITIES It is essential that employees see that educational attainment is an important value of your company. Witnessing colleagues pursuing educational opportunities and being able to communicate with fellow students would increase the likelihood of committing to a program. Another good practice is to promote cohort opportunities for your employees. If employees are able to participate in similar programs and become a part of a team that will inherently offer support, they will be more likely to develop the confidence necessary to pursue educational opportunities. Pursuing a goal in isolation may be more of an emotional challenge for employees so having a support group or feeling like a part of a team will ensure a level of comfort with some of the major challenges in returning to an educational environment while working. POSSIBLE OBJECTIVES FOR A MENTORING PROGRAM As part of your company s on boarding or orientation process, prioritize the importance of education by offering employees the opportunity to reflect on career and educational goals. Appoint someone or invite someone in your company to serve as a College Advocate for employees pursuing further education. This person can be the sounding board for those considering taking courses and can serve to motivate and inspire employees to evaluate the options available. This person could also help to advise potential students by pointing them to resources and helping them to make connections to institutions that would meet their needs. Coach employees in the process for managing their work-life balance to ensure that pursuing education is not perceived to be an intimidating burden. Help them to reflect on the best approach for managing their professional responsibilities and support them in finding programs that will enhance their professional skill set. Celebrate the success of employees when they enroll in a program, when they receive grades, and when they finish a course of study. Guide the employee in the best way to utilize newly acquired skills. 19

20 GET ALUMNI INVOLVED Identify/nominate/recruit recent graduates in the workplace to serve as mentors/advocates for college attainment. Consider incentives for getting recent graduates to support those considering and enrolling in a degree program. Sponsor lunch and learn programs where interested employees can speak with the mentors. These should be regular enough to ensure that continuing education and professional development are a focal point of your company. Sponsor lunch and learn programs where interested employees can speak with the mentors. These should be regular enough to ensure that continuing education and professional development are a focal point of your company. Create tutoring groups. For tutoring groups to function effectively, willing employees should establish some regular meeting times to assess the needs of the group and to provide academic support. Recognize and celebrate the mentor s contribution. Recognize them in company newsletters, present them with awards, or offer financial incentives to mentors who succeed in motivating other employees to complete a degree. 20

21 Getting Results and Measuring Success THE REPORT CARD The Employer Toolkit will be most useful and effective in promoting educational attainment for employees if its success can be measured. To that end, we have created a report card for measuring our achievements and for setting new goals for improvement. The Report Card will initially serve as a reflective tool that will enable us to develop a focus for understanding what we are currently doing right and what we must do to continue to grow and improve. CONTENTS OF THE REPORT CARD The Report Card is divided into the various sections presented in the toolkit. Once you have assessed your company s current approach to guiding employees in their educational aspirations, you will have a better understanding of what resources to use in the toolkit. You can be more strategic about what programs you offer your employees if you have a solid understanding of the principles and practices that will yield success. You can assign your company points based on the practices you have implemented. Your ultimate goal is to reach 100 points, ensuring that your company offers all of the essential programs and provides support to employees seeking educational opportunities to improve their skill set add value to the company. 21

22 Use of the Report Card SELF-AUDIT The Report Card will be used initially to engage in a self-auditing process that allows for easy reflection on current strengths and weaknesses. This self-audit can be completed by a College Advocate or person that is most familiar with the educational program at your company. It is important to be frank and honest in conducting this assessment so that you understand the best steps for improving your program. Once you have completed the initial self-audit, you can reflect with a team of those invested in the effort to increase the level of education of your employees the company CEO, managers and supervisors, your College Advocate, your HR director. You can then determine what policies, procedures, programs to implement based on your score and the valuable data you gain from this process. ON-GOING DEVELOPMENT It is important to continue to review the Report Card as you evolve in the process of implementing a robust program for assisting your employees in pursuing their educational goals. Periodic review of the Report Card should occur at least every quarter so that you can properly assess opportunities for improvement. The Report Card will serve as a simple reference point for those managing your program and its ongoing development. REFLECTING ON SUCCESS We envision The Report Card as a mechanism for celebrating the successes of your company in promoting degree attainment. It could be used to reflect on the collective progress our regional companies are making in ensuring that St. Louis is in the top ten of most educated cities, as measured by degree attainment, by The Report Card will allow the Chamber and all those companies committed to this program to reflect on the best practices that exist in our community, and it will provide a more objective measure of a company s success as it is applied to our region s businesses. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT CARD The Report Card in the Degrees That Work program will initially be used internally by companies as they seek to enhance and strengthen current programs.it is meant to ensure adequate reflection and it is meant to drive further efforts to increase opportunities for working adults in our region. We hope that the Report Card is one measure to ensure our collective success in working towards the region s ability to grow and prosper. 22

23 2014 Degrees That Work Report Card Points Available Points Earned Encourage: Emphasize the Importance of College Completion in the Workplace Incorporate a philosophy of educational attainment into your company s mission or vision statement 2 Create a career development path for employees that focuses on degree attainment 5 Ensure that promotions and transfers consider education and continued learning 5 Partner with regional universities to create new development plans 10 Regularly celebrate completion of degrees, certifications or classes 3 Total 25 Inform: Empower Employees to be Smart Consumers Educate employees on a variety of financial assistance available to help pay the cost of attending comments 5 Make access to information simple and convenient 5 Make credit counseling available 5 Help employees complete the FAFSA 10 Total 25 Facilitate: Help Drive Down Costs Establish a College Tuition Reimbursement Program 10 Administer a prior learning assessment 5 Offer flexible work environment 10 Total 25 Engage: Encourage Peer Support Offer formal and informal sessions that promote conversation around education attainment Select a College Advocate 10 Get alumni involved 4 Create tutoring groups 4 Recognize and celebrate mentor contributions 3 Total 25 Report Card Totals

24 Degrees That Work is a program offered by the St. Louis Regional Chamber to support working people who are seeking to complete college degrees. Degrees That Work offers solutions, best practices, and information sharing for working people completing their degrees, their employers, and the higher education institutions they attend. Degrees That Work is part of the movement to see St. Louis become a top ten region for education attainment by degreesthatworkstl.com ONE METROPOLITAN SQUARE, SUITE 1300 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI (314)