Education
"Where the Jobs Are, the Training May Not Be" by Catherine Rampell
New York Times March 1, 2012
1193 words
Public colleges around the country have started to cut back training for jobs the economy needs the most. State colleges in Nebraska, Nevada, Colorado and many more have had to totally eliminate engineering and computer science departments due to recent recessions. Within the past 25 years, there have been withdrawals from higher education during or following recessions. Once the economy recovered from these recession, there has been no restoration to the money that's been cut. Since 1985, the share of instruction paid for by students after financial aid has gone from 23% to 40%. "I understand why students are angry," says George R. Blumenthal, the chancellor of the University of California in Santa Cruz "They have to write bigger checks every year, and they can't get into the classes they want. The reality is they're paying more and getting less." State funding cuts also reduce the ability for the poor to get more training as well as making harder them to get the jobs the economy needs most: science, engineering, and health care. These fields are the most expensive to teach because of the equipment needed and safety precautions. The professors teaching these subjects are more in demand, so they are demanding much higher pay.
Many colleges have been depending on the federal government for funding, including the Pell Grant funding and the Recovery Act. Recently, Obama proposed a $8 billion federal package for community colleges for additional job training. The belief that just spending our money better would increase the number of degrees received is totally false. We need to find a better solution for our attainment levels, not just finding random efficiencies that don't last very long.
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