University graduates in the Middle East and the United States of America are disillusioned with their higher education degrees. Youth expect to be well employed upon graduation and to improve their social status. Employment has been guaranteed from the earliest university certificates granted in Middle Eastern yeshivas, Houses of Learning, and…

Texas faces numerous challenges but also has abundant opportunities to build the middle class and increase prosperity. Unfortunately, too many Texans are on the sideline, lacking access to opportunities to learn, earn, and save to secure a more prosperous future for themselves and their families. To create jobs, increase income, and promote…

Sometimes a proposed piece of legislation or new rule can catalyze debate about a key issue. That seems to be the case for the "gainful employment" rule currently being proposed by the Department of Education (DOE). The rule addresses a very real problem: The large amounts of debt being taken on by some students, mainly those attending for-profit…

As workers continue to slough their way through a prolonged economic downturn, many are finding hope, and perhaps a little stability, in a new crop of emerging and revitalized industries. Business and all levels of government are making a concerted effort to protect the environment and develop sustainable energies. Community colleges have become…

When Martin Lancaster took over as president of the North Carolina Community College System more than a decade ago, the state, not unlike much of the nation, stood at the precipice of a massive economic shift. As traditional manufacturing and farming jobs--from tobacco to furniture to textiles--began to disappear, demand for a new breed of worker…

As President Obama said in advance remarks about the American Graduation Initiative: "[T]he hard truth is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won't be coming back. And that only underscores the importance of generating new businesses and industries to replace the ones we've lost, and of preparing our…