As an increasingly high-tech world requires more sophisticated education, fewer Utahns are hitting the books past high school.

Only 35 percent of 18-to-24-year-old Utahns are enrolled in college, down from 41 percent 10 years ago. That may be good news for employers looking for an army of low-wage, unskilled workers, but it is bad news for Utah's economy.

To counteract the trend, Gov. Huntsman and Richard Kendell, commissioner of higher education, launched the Utah Scholars program last week. The goal is to encourage students to take more rigorous academic courses in high school. Students who succeed in the program will be designated Utah Scholars at graduation -- a title that will be noted on transcripts and which will help them qualify for higher levels of college financial aid.

Four Utah school districts, including Provo, are part of the pilot program, which in turn is part of the national State Scholars Initiative. States that have implemented the program are seeing promising results, both in test scores and the number of students moving on to college.

The key is that stakeholders in the community encourage students to step up to the challenge. Huntsman and Kendell are drumming up support for Utah Scholars among business, religious and civic leaders. The plan is to take a message to students, starting with 8th-graders, that success can be planned.

It's a message that is more convincing coming from a future employer than from a school teacher. In the program, businesses can also provide immediate rewards to academic achievers -- prizes for students who excel in core classes, for example. A chance to win a free iPod, car or ski pass may be enough to get some slackers to hit the books.

Clearly, a high school education alone is no longer a good base from which to launch one's work life. This was true in Utah County even before Geneva Steel shut down its furnaces. The steel plant was once the default position for local youth who wanted to make good money. Today a bachelor's degree is a minimum for a high-paying job.

The Utah Foundation said recently that people with bachelor's degrees earned $1 million more over a lifetime than those with a high school diploma alone, and post-graduate education pushes total earnings even higher.

Even some blue-collar jobs require strong skills in math and science. Today's auto mechanics need to do more than just twist a wrench. Computer technology has found its way under the hood, and specialized training is necessary for better pay.

Those who choose to take the easy path will find themselves wrangling shopping carts at the big-box store, hurting themselves and the rest of us economically. That's because when a person lacks the education needed to support a family, everyone else picks up the bill through welfare payments, Medicaid and -- in some cases -- additional prison beds and police officers. Educated people reduce the welfare burden, contribute to the state's coffers through taxes and provide a valuable labor pool for more advanced businesses.

What needs to happen, Kendell said, is for students to focus on more difficult math and science classes as they work their way through school. Students who take math in their senior year of high school are much more likely to graduate from college.

The world is changing, and we can either help our kids ride the wave or sit back and watch them get swamped by it.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A5.

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