Competitive Workforce: Public Policy
of today’s workforce has a high school diploma and/or some college education. Meanwhile a majority of the best paying jobs being created require at least a baccalaureate degree. Moreover, in a number of states the educational attainment level of the workforce could drop with the impending retirement of many baby boomers. To maintain the quality of life and economy of the state, policymakers at the state level need to include adult learners in their plans. Some states, such as Pennsylvania, recently have expanded financial aid programs for working part-time adult students and others have created multi-university centers to deliver learning to place-bound adults. State legislatures need to designate expanded financial resources for working part-time adult students and provide incentives to public institutions to create innovative degree programs for this population, especially in key sectors such as K-12 education and health care.
