COLLEGE DEGREE NEEDED FOR ENTRY INTO MIDDLE CLASS

2010 Springfield Technical Community College graduates celebrate at June 2 commencement exercises.

This week another report has been issued that confirms what most Americans know – that a college degree is becoming essential for a middle class job.  The latest study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce cites an increasing share of American jobs requiring at least some college education: “Between 1973 and 2008, the share of jobs in the U.S. economy that required post-secondary education increased from 28% to 59%. According to our projections, the future promises more of the same. The share of post-secondary jobs will increase from 59% to 63% nationally over the next decade. The share of post-secondary jobs will increase from 59% to 63% nationally over the next decade.”(http://www.nebhe.org/2010/09/10/more-than-2-million-job-vacancies-forecast-for-ne-by-2018-but-do-our-workers-have-what-it-takes-to-fill-them/)  

The authors of the study - Anthony P. Carnevale and Nicole Smith – argue that in the next ten years, high school graduates and high school dropouts “will find themselves largely left behind in the coming decade” for decent paying  jobs. They conclude that post-secondary education will become essential for entry into the middle class. 

Meanwhile, the cost of college is escalating – a vicious circle for those of modest means who must obtain a college education to enter the middle class but often do so with substantial college debt.  During the “Great Recession” as it has become known students are flocking into colleges, especially public colleges, using this time of high un-employment to earn a degree or retrain with additional post-secondary skills.  Our society should support them with higher levels of financial aid and additional funds for public colleges.  To do otherwise will increase the pain of the “Great Recession” for our youth who will either be locked out of college or leave with college loans that will take decades to pay off.