CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018, OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“’COLLEGE CONTRADICTION’ THREATENS STATE’S FUTURE”
Call
it the college contradiction. Just when a major study finds that California is
about to fall far behind in producing the college-educated workforce that some
of its biggest and fastest-growing businesses will soon need, half the state’s
citizens say they don’t think a college degree brings greater success in life.
Examining
the second part of that major contradiction first, information from the Public
Policy Institute of California clearly demonstrates that college graduates do
better in life than others, at least financially. No, material success doesn’t
always produce happiness, and no one would sensibly argue that the wealthy
don’t have problems.
But
the PPIC analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau is clear that the more
education a person has, the higher his or her annual income tends to be. Yes,
there exceptions, like technology titans Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and the
late Steve Jobs of Apple Corp., both college dropouts, but for the vast
majority, the results are plain.
The
average annual wage for someone with a graduate degree is more than $121,000,
while the average bachelor’s degree holder makes more than $86,000. Community
college grads average $58,000 and those who attended some college make $53,000.
By contrast, high school graduates get $41,000 and high school dropouts just
$31,000.
So
there’s little doubt: The 50 percent who say college is unneeded for material
success are just plain wrong.
But
they still vote. And while the overwhelming majority of Californians in a
just-released PPIC survey (79 percent) don’t want any increases in college and
university student fees, no one knows where the funds to increase the number of
college graduates will come from. For sure, the survey found most Californians
don’t want higher taxes, even though a large majority pronounced themselves
likely to vote for a higher education construction bond issue.
The
PPIC’s analysis of Census figures was a foundation for testimony from the
non-partisan, non-profit institute before a state Assembly committee
considering changes to California’s Master Plan for Higher Education, in place
since the early 1960s.
It
concluded that the state’s workforce must include 38.4 percent highly educated
persons by 2030, compared with the 29.7 percent that were required in 2000 and
the 35.3 percent that will be needed in 2020. Failure to place that proportion
of college graduates into the workforce would likely require importing more
immigrant workers for high-paying jobs in computer- and technology-related
industries or moving significant plants and laboratories out of the state.
Ironically,
some of the same politicians who have long decried a supposed trend of
businesses doing just that – setting up new facilities in states from Texas and
Idaho to the Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C. – also regularly oppose increased
state funding for the University of California and the California State
University system.
But
the PPIC information demonstrates they can’t have it both ways – they can’t
have continued prosperity without investing at least some more money to enable
it.
Hans
Johnson, director of the PPIC Higher Education Center, testified that the
increase in demand for educated workers doesn’t come merely from high-tech
employers. He said there is also increased demand for educational attainment
within longer-established professions. Among nurses, for example, 57 percent
were college graduates in 2000, compared with 68 percent in 2015 and even more
today.
The
degrees are needed both to get hired and to keep jobs long-term. Reported
Johnson, “We find higher labor force participation rates, lower unemployment
rates and higher wages for workers with a bachelor’s degree than for those
without…overall, the premium for college graduates relative to less educated
workers has grown.” And there is no sign the disparity will ever close.
But
that doesn’t stop half of Californians from thinking college is unnecessary.
While majorities of African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Latinos say college
should be a high priority, only 35 percent of whites agree.
No
one has yet studied why whites are less convinced of the value of education
than others.
But
the bottom line is that as long as only half of Californians think college is
needed, the majority of voters won’t be very willing to tap their wallets to
support it. And yet, they must if California is to prosper. That’s the very
dangerous college contradiction now facing this state.
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Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, go to www.californiafocus.net
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, go to www.californiafocus.net
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