In April 2013, "NEJHE" launched its "New Directions for Higher Education" series to examine emerging issues, trends and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. In this installment, DiSalvio interviews Matthew Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, a Boston-based labor market…

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has had concerns about student debt for decades. Her recent solution seeks to redistribute tax revenue from the richest Americans to enable students to refinance their postgraduation indebtedness; this would allow students to benefit from the low interest rates in today's financial markets. The Massachusetts…

Much has been written in both the business and higher education press about the gap between today's jobs and the skills presented by those seeking work. The fact that U.S. Department of Labor statistics show 9.6 million people out of work with 4.8 million jobs still unfilled (August 2014) suggests a problem. However, little agreement exists…

Even as the economy appears to have turned a corner, high unemployment persists. Strangely, as millions nationwide struggle to find work, there are millions of jobs that remain unfilled. High unemployment rates may therefore have less to do than commonly assumed with an economy that is not healthy enough to produce jobs or employers who are…

For decades, the cost of serving college students, from community colleges to Ivy League institutions, has been a barrier that has blocked access for many who want an education. With a recent massification effort aimed at producing more college graduates for the workplace, the enrollment numbers have increased and student debt load has become a…

The Vermont Community Foundation's (VCF) 2009 report on postsecondary education asserts that college graduates live longer, healthier, more lucrative lives than their peers who did not graduate college. But the report is harsh in its assessment of the readiness of Vermont high school students for college. Vermont's expenditures for high school…

The value of a college degree is well documented. College graduates earn at least 60% more than high school graduates. Beyond the economic value, college graduates show higher rates of civic participation, engage in volunteer work and even have a much higher likelihood of being "happy." Students who drop out without attaining a college degree will…

The Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce has engaged in a highly publicized campaign claiming that the nation will face a very substantial deficit of college graduates by 2018 if the American postsecondary system fails to rapidly expand the number of college degrees it awards each year. Indeed, the employment projections developed by…

President Obama has emphasized the importance of higher education, and recently implemented ambitious higher education finance reform that will serve to benefit college students now and in the future. Although these changes are noteworthy, little has been done to help the many individuals who currently owe student debt, particularly private debt,…

Northeastern University economists Paul E. Harrington and Andrew M. Sum argue that a recent report, "Help Wanted", "radically overstates the size of the college labor market." This overcount, they claim, has nothing to do with the recession. "Even in times of near full employment," Harrington and Sum argue that "substantial shares" of…

The recent response by Anthony Carnevale et al. to the authors' analysis of the fundamental shortcomings associated with their predictions of widespread college labor shortages focuses on three areas. First, Anthony Carnevale et al. suggest that the authors are educational Luddites by noting in the title of their response that the authors believe…

This paper explores the impact of recent economic volatility on higher education and discusses the lessons learned and the strategies for the future. The author believes that America's higher education is in danger, but has an extraordinary opportunity. Several reports point to the country's lagging behind other advanced countries in educational…

In its first hundred days, the Obama administration demonstrated a strong commitment to expanding access to higher education. The economic stimulus package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), increased funding for the Pell Grant program and over the next two years, the maximum award will grow to $5,550 in 2010-2011--the…

One of New England's greatest assets is its skilled labor force, which has historically been an engine of economic growth in the region. But the skilled labor force of the future is growing more slowly in New England than in the rest of the United States. Since 2000, the population of "recent college graduates"--individuals ages 22 to 27 with a…

"Since so many graduates of our public colleges settle in other states, why should our state subsidize the workforce development of other states?" Or, "Why should we get more people into college when we won't have enough jobs for more college graduates here?" These widespread sentiments among people involved in public higher education indicate a…