According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, Williamson County’s college-bound student rate has reached a new high of nearly 83 percent.

The data set looked at high school students who were enrolled at any higher education institution – community college, university, in-state, out-of-state, public or private. Only public high school graduates were included in the college-going calculations.

Williamson is on track to help meet the state’s goals. Gov. Bill Haslam’s Drive to 55 plan asks that nearly 55 percent of Tennesseans have a certification or degree. According to Tennessee Achieves, the mentorship program for the state, Williamson County has a degree attainment level of 70 percent. Their goal is to reach 80.6 percent by 2025.

And during the last six years, the trend has only gone up for Williamson. Starting in 2009, the district had only 54.5 percent of its students attending a post-secondary institution. Six years later, that number has jumped by 28 percent.

Superintendent Mike Looney said he attributes growth to the district’s focus.

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