Findings released today by Georgetown University indicate the U.S. will not have enough college graduates by the year 2018.<\/p>\n
Some bullet points from the school’s Center on Education in the Workplace:<\/p>\n
-By 2018, the U.S. will need 22 million new college graduates<\/p>\n
-Projections indicate the country will fall short by 3 million people<\/p>\n
-Nine out ten workers with a high school education or less are limited to three occupational clusters that either pay low wages or are in decline<\/p>\n
-Over the next five years, 60 million Americans are at risk of being locked out of the middle class, toiling in predominantly low-wage jobs that require high school diplomas or less<\/p>\n
The study says the change is due to advances in technology:<\/p>\n
The core mechanism at work in increasing demand for postsecondary education and training is the computer, which automates repetitive tasks and increases the value of non-repetitive functions in all jobs. Occupations with high levels of non-repetitive tasks, such as professional and managerial jobs, tend to require postsecondary education and training. These types of jobs are growing, while positions dominated by repetitive tasks that tend to require high school or less, like production jobs, are declining.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
-In 1973, there were 25 million jobs available to people with at least some college or better<\/p>\n
-By 2007 that number ballooned to 91 million jobs<\/p>\n
This sums up one of the Center’s findings:<\/p>\n
Our grandparents\u2019 economy, which promised well-paying jobs for anyone who graduated from high school, is fading and will soon be altogether gone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Center also broke down the study for each state. In New York:<\/p>\n
-Between 2008 and 2018, new jobs across the state requiring post-secondary education and training will grow by 359,000<\/p>\n
-Jobs for high school graduates and dropouts will grow by 137,000<\/p>\n
-Statewide, 2.8 million jobs will open up or be created<\/p>\n
-1.8 million will require post-secondary education<\/p>\n
-750,000 positions will be available to those with only a high school diploma<\/p>\n
-287,000 jobs will be available to high school dropouts<\/p>\n
-In 2018, 63% of all jobs across New York (6.1 million jobs) will require some post-secondary training<\/p>\n