Mayoral leadership to boost local college completion rates is both a recent and growing phenomenon, often spurred by dual goals of attracting and retaining high-wage employers and promoting equity by enhancing the skills and credentials of less advantaged populations. These efforts grow out of a recognition of the rising wage premium for workers with postsecondary degrees and the related need for cities to increase the share of their local workforce holding credentials from two- and four-year colleges. Graduate! Philadelphia served as advisor to the Mayors of Louisville, Memphis, Berkeley and Salt Lake City.
