Higher Ed Utah

Here’s a compilation of some recent articles that provide information on the role CTE plays, as well as benefits and impact on society.

Community College Contributions

A policy brief prepared by the American Association of Community Colleges provides a framework and supporting data that details a number of public and private benefits that come from community colleges.  The brief argues that America’s community colleges are the brokers of opportunity for a stronger middle class and more prosperous nation and cites a 16.1% return on investment to state and local governments from investing in community colleges.

Community colleges provide pathways to credentials, degrees, and retraining opportunities for those with and without college credentials, and they operate as engines of economic development.  The brief argues that the workforce of the future will increasingly rely on occupations that require college-educated workers, and that many of those workers will need the education and training provided at the sub baccalaureate level to enter a field, and in some cases to maintain job tenure.  Given that there are numerous public and private returns associated with educational attainment, the brief suggests there is an imbalance of financial support for community colleges and advocates for alignment of fiscal resources to more appropriately match future workforce needs.

http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Publications/Briefs/Documents/2013PB_01.pdf

Utah Valley University- Business Engagement Strategies

Most of Utah’s higher education institutions fulfill a community college function as part of their overall role assignment. Utah Valley University is no exception. It has recently launched the Business Engagement Strategies (BES) Career Pathways program as part of its commitment to serve students and local businesses. The BES Career Pathway strategy is designed to engage partnerships for more purposeful learner transitions across systems of education and on to meaningful employment. For more information click on the link provided.

http://www.uvu.edu/cte/about/CCollegeMission_final.pdf

Center for American Progress- Working Learners

There are approximately 75 million workers who need additional education to meet the needs of America’s emerging
employment market. This paper argues that workforce policy should focus not only on emergency unemployment counseling but also on making career coaching and skills training available to all workers. This requires reforming and integrating the education and workforce development systems by retooling the employment service as a “one-stop” career center, making financial aid available for working learners, and investing in and improving community colleges.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/06/pdf/working_learners.pdf

Center for American Progress- Disrupting College

America’s colleges and universities are strapped for resources, students and families are faced with eye-popping tuition increases. America is falling behind other developed nations in attainment of postsecondary credentials.

We need a new way of thinking about how colleges can fulfill their role in society. Clayton Christensen offers an explanation of the changes in higher education through the lens of disruptive innovation, showing how new technologies like online education are forcing colleges and policymakers to rethink the way they
deliver education.

http://www.americanprogress.org/events/2011/02/disrupting.html

AACC- A Sound Investment: The Community College Dividend

Although many of the benefits of investing in higher education apply to all sectors of higher education, the return on public investment in community colleges is enhanced because of their local focus. Community college students are more likely to stay in their communities after graduation. Community colleges also provide non-degree oriented educational services that help their students and the community as a whole. Finally, community colleges are
providing these benefits to society with an absolute and proportionately smaller share of public resources than are other public institutions.

http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Publications/Briefs/Documents/2011-01PBL_Investment.pdf

AACC- The Road Ahead: A Look at Trends in the Educational Attainment of Community College Students

According to AACC, this paper presents data on educational attainment at community colleges, with an eye to what the data portend. One extremely positive conclusion can be reached: Educational attainment for all key populations is increasing at community colleges. The investments made in a community college education, by individuals and by society as a whole, are paying off.

Over the past 20 years, the percent increase in credentials awarded has been double the percent increase in enrollment. These findings are even more pronounced for students of color. Consistent with other research, actual rates of transfer for students are much higher than commonly reported as well.

http://www.aacc.nche.edu/Publications/Briefs/Documents/PB_RoadAhead.pdf

Georgetown University Center n Education and the Workforce- The Undereducated American

A study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce confirms that over the past 30
years, the demand for college-educated workers has outpaced supply, resulting in economic output below potential and increased income inequality. The current recession and grudging recovery, however, hides the fact that we are
under-producing college graduates. “The data are clear,” said Anthony P. Carnevale, the Center’s director and co-author of the report, “the demand for college-educated workers is growing much faster than the supply. In recession and recovery, we remain fixated on the high school jobs that are lost and not coming back. We are hurtling into a future dominated by college-level jobs, unprepared.”

http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/undereducatedamerican.pdf

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce- The College Payoff

A college degree pays off–but by just how much? In this report, the researchers examine just what a college degree is worth–and what else besides a degree might influence an individual’s potential earnings. This report examines lifetime earnings for all education levels and earnings by occupation, age, race/ethnicity and gender. The data are clear: a college degree is key to economic opportunity, conferring substantially higher earnings on those with
credentials than those without.

http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/collegepayoff-complete.pdf

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce- STEM

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations are critical to our continued economic competitiveness because of their direct ties to innovation, economic growth, and productivity, even though they will only be 5 percent of all U.S. jobs by 2018. The disproportionate influence of STEM raises a persistent concern that we are not producing enough STEM workers to compete successfully in the global economy. This report confirms this concern but not for the reasons traditionally claimed. The deeper problem is a broader scarcity of workers with basic STEM competencies across the entire economy.

About a third of all STEM jobs will be for those with less than a bachelor’s degree, and many of these jobs will pay more than many jobs held by those with bachelor’s degrees in non-STEM fields. STEM workers have earnings advantages at nearly every level of educational attainment. The states with the fastest growth in STEM jobs are Virginia, Nevada, and Utah.

http://cew.georgetown.edu/stem