If the Supreme Court bans race-conscious affirmative action, as expected, selective higher education institutions almost certainly will become less diverse, reducing the rates of degree attainment among students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. "Race, Elite College Admissions, and the Courts: The Pursuit of Racial…

In this report, we present the results of a thought experiment in which we estimated the potential costs and benefits to society of achieving equality in educational attainment and related workforce outcomes by race/ethnicity, class, and gender. We conducted this thought experiment to clarify the role that education can play in reducing…

Many Americans would agree that all people should have equal educational opportunity and equal pay for equal work. And yet, inequality in postsecondary education access, college completion, and post-college outcomes such as wages stubbornly persists, along with the impression that achieving equal outcomes would be too expensive and would take too…

This report, provides detailed analyses and projections of occupations in healthcare fields, and wages earned. In addition, the important skills and work values associated with workers in those fields of healthcare are discussed. Finally, the authors analyze the implications of research findings for the racial, ethnic, and class diversity of the…

This executive summary highlights several findings about healthcare. These are: (1) Healthcare is 18 percent of the U.S. economy, twice as high as in other countries; (2) There are two labor markets in healthcare: high-skill, high-wage professional and technical jobs and low-skill, low-wage support jobs; (3) Demand for postsecondary education in…

Technology will not save us from scarce resource problems by creating "virtual schools." Technology is an expensive investment, adding value more than reducing costs. Social capital is the collateral necessary for human capital development. Our education system must consider its academic and cultural roles, not just provide foot soldiers…

This study analyzes longitudinal National Center for Education Statistics data, including individualized high school records, college entrance exams, and socioeconomic background. It looks at how admissions officers currently make decisions and trends in admissions decisions between 1979-2000. Reports findings of an Educational Testing Service…

A study tracing the United States economy over the last 40 years reports the skills needed in the changing economy around the turn of the 21st century. Data sources were the March Annual Demographic files of the Current Population Survey for 1970, 1980, 1990, and 1996, and the Public Microdata Sample of the 1960 Census. The study notes the rise of…

This report synthesizes the available information on impending state demographic changes and their implications for the volume and diversity of undergraduate enrollment for each state. Projections derived from U.S. Census figures are that, between 1995 and 2015, the number of undergraduates will grow by 19%, to about 16 million. Contributing to…

Explores how the increasing number of potential college students, particularly minorities, presents a two-fold challenge: how to afford and allocate resources so that all who want a college education get one, and how to provide enough college-level human capital to meet the needs of individuals and employers in our new knowledge economy. (EV)