Ever so slowly, America is coming out of the Great Recession. The November labor data showed the unemployment rate dropping to 8.5 percent and the economy producing over 200,000 new jobs. Those numbers are encouraging. Hopefully, the economy can sustain them, so we can see a more dramatic reduction in unemployment.

It can't happen soon enough for thousands of recent college graduates.

I was in Tampa, Fla., for four days right after Christmas. While there, I had the opportunity to talk with a group of recent college graduates. To a person, they were questioning whether the time and expense they put into earning a degree were worth it. It wasn't surprising since none of them had found employment in their field of study and most were struggling to pay back loans while working for minimum wage.

I explained to them that education isn't simply about gaining knowledge for future employment opportunities. It's also for personal development and enrichment.

They weren't buying it.

Their question is one that many recent graduates may be asking themselves. "Is college worth it?" The current recession notwithstanding, the answer is a resounding "Yes." In the long run, earning a post-secondary degree, either a two-year, four-year, or post-secondary certificate, almost always results in higher earnings over a lifetime.

Post-secondary schooling is also a pretty good hedge against unemployment.

The research that has examined this issue, including a recent study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, concludes "that a bachelor's degree is one of the best weapons a job seeker can wield in the fight for employment and earnings."

Their report indicates that the unemployment rate for students with a new bachelor's degree is 8.9%, high, but far less than the 22.9 percent unemployment rate for job seekers with a recent high school diploma, and nowhere near the astronomical 31.5% for recent high school dropouts.

Not only is college "worth it," a four-year or two-year degree or certificate is going to become almost mandatory in the coming years.

Research by Manpower International, among others, indicates that the nation's largest employers are predicting the country will need more than 22 million new graduates by 2020, associate's degree or higher, as well as another 4.7 million workers with a post-secondary certificate related to occupation-specific training.

If we maintain our current graduation rate, we fall short by more than 3 million graduates.

Simply put, too few Americans are enrolling in and completing post-secondary education to meet the need.

In 2009, as part of his campaign to increase the number of America's post-secondary graduates, President Obama told Congress that "By 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world." A lofty and necessary goal, but what does it mean?

The National Center on Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) estimates "that achieving the president's goal would require 8 million additional postsecondary graduates by 2020."

To accomplish that goal, according to NCHEMS, we have to increase the number of degrees and/or certificates conferred by 10% — annually.

According to an article published online on the CBS Interactive Business Network website, of those who do attend college, one in four drops out before the end of their first year. Students who are the first in their family to attend college drop out at an even higher rate.

So, the challenge is to have more young people attend college or some form of post-secondary training and graduate.

But wait, there's more.

Not all post-secondary training is equal. Young people need careful guidance on choosing a field of study. The following excerpt from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce study Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018 indicates that: E Choice of major substantially affects employment prospects and earnings.

▶ People who make technology are better off than people who use technology.

▶ In general, majors that are linked to occupations have better employment prospects than majors focused on general skills.

In the job market of the future, a person who graduates with a liberal arts degree and no specific occupational skills may be at a significant disadvantage.

The value of post-secondary education or training will be determined by the use that a person can make of it. The degree is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.

Paul Grasso is the executive director of the North Country Workforce Investment Board, the counties' designated workforce development planning agency, and the North Country Workforce Partnership Inc.