Yesterday, Comcast Executive Vice President David L. Cohen joined Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, executives from NBC News and NBC 10, and students and teachers from across the Philadelphia region to officially open NBC News' "Education Nation Experience" at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Did you know that one-third of students in the U.S. drop out of high school? And of those who stay in school, one-third of them aren't college-ready upon graduation?

As Mr. Cohen noted during his remarks, "Education is the key to our future success as a country, and given Comcast's long commitment to education, this is the kind of event we believe in. Education Nation is a terrific platform that is bringing greater awareness to help improve high school graduation rates and get more kids prepared for college. The many programs NBC has planned this week will help shine a spotlight on what works and on the importance of finding, and investing in, programs that will make a difference."

Additionally, the University of Phoenix partnered with NBC to provide NBC Learn to schools in Philadelphia and New Jersey. NBC Learn is the education arm of NBC News and includes a website with more than 12,000 engaging and relevant stories from the news archives mapped to curriculum and state standards. The stories date back to the Universal News Reels of the 1920's and include landmark events like the first moon landing, Civil Rights marches and presidential speeches. What a great way to make history come to life!

By providing quality information to the public through Education Nation, we hope to help Americans make decisions about how best to improve our education system both in the near and long terms, with the goal of inspiring change.