Diversity Abounds in the Millienial Generation

Total jubilation. That was my niece's high school graduation a few weeks ago.

The 465 graduates from Columbia High School in suburban Newark, N.J., were joyous. Their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles in the audience were too. Everyone breathed joy in the gym of Essex County Community College watching the Class of 2008 march across the stage to receive their diplomas.

The twin themes of the nation's future were on display as I witnessed this American rite and waited for my niece, Robin, to grasp her diploma. Journalists need to understand these themes because they will explain unfolding demographic news and add context and texture to stories.

The graduation of Robin's classmates and the other estimated 3 million members of the Class of 2008 means that the majority of the Millennial Generation, born between 1977 and 1995, has finished high school. Four years from now, when members of the class begin to graduate from college, Baby Boomers, the generation encompassing many of their parents, will start to retire en masse.

The classes of 2007 and 2008 are the largest since the mid-1970s, when the high point of Baby Boomer graduations occurred.

The Columbia High School class of 2008 entered ninth grade the same fall that George W. Bush was elected to his second term. They will start college as the country prepares to elect a new president. The new college freshmen will be among the first-time voters expected at the polls in November.

More than 86 percent of all Americans 25 years and older now hold a high school diploma or GED. But it's a college degree that counts the most in this country. Overall, a third of adults hold a bachelors degree. By race: More than half of Asians are college graduates, 32 percent of non-Hispanic whites, 19 percent of African Americans and 13 percent of Hispanics.

These Millennials will start to pick up their bachelors degrees in 2012. That is the year the oldest Baby Boomers turn 66 and can retire with full Social Security benefits.

The nation is now on the brink of that great generational shift. Four years from now in offices and workplaces around the country, Baby Boomers will exit in increasingly large numbers. Millennials will have a growing presence in the workforce. Gen Xers will move into the top management jobs.

Robin's parents, my sister and brother-in-law are already planning to attend her college graduation. Then they plan to retire.

Bobbi Bowman, a longtime newspaper reporter and editor, is diversity director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

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