One significant function community colleges serve is the provision of training programs for today's jobs. Students in job training programs are pursuing valued industry credentials and occupational skill sets to prepare themselves for new employment opportunities. Others are interested in retraining and professional development. Historically,…

A country's productivity and economic competitiveness rely upon education, specifically postsecondary training which is fundamental to students' upward mobility in a thriving and progressive economic culture (Haunshek & Woessmann, 2012; Bailey et al., 2015). In order to maintain the economic stability of the United States for future…

States are coordinating with two-year institutions on workforce programming for unemployed or underemployed residents. Reskilling residents is especially vital for states that endured historic unemployment rates as a result of COVID-19-related layoffs. Nationally, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) is making…

For southern New England, the middle-skills gap is projected to become acute by 2020, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Historically and currently, the middle-skills labor pool in Massachusetts has been significantly below national rates and has been recently experiencing a decline. Closing the middle-skills gap depends on improving…

A crucial issue in the debate on state support for higher education is the extent that a state's production of college graduates affects the state's education attainment. The view that many new graduates take their state-supported degrees to labor markets in other states undermines states' incentives to promote wider access to college. This study…

Every community college engages in partnerships and collaboration. The trend for community colleges has been to increase the number and diversity of partnerships and collaborations. Current economic conditions, which require community colleges to serve more students with decreased state funding and to assume a larger role in workforce development,…

Occupation-specific education in high school lowers the dropout rate and increases wages and employment when training-related jobs are obtained. Unfortunately, most vocational graduates lack such employment. State funding formulas for local vocational programs should be based on the school's success at job placement, not on recruitment for…

Four kinds of evidence demonstrating substantial social benefits resulting from public expenditures on higher education are discussed: (1) social rates of return; (2) nonmonetary benefits; (3) local economic activity; and (4) national economic growth. A recent study of the effect of investment in higher education on workforce productivity is…

The interrelationship between higher education and the health of the New England economy is discussed. Two challenges in the coming decades are identified: decreasing enrollments and higher education's role in New England's economic development. Regional economic development, human resource planning, and state funding of higher education are…

Argues that community colleges give less attention to noncredit courses and programs, those that are designed to assist in some sort of job training or those that simply enrich a student's knowledge. Sees this credit-based value system as highlighting the discrepancy between what community colleges offer and what students, especially older ones,…

The rapid rise of the information technology industry, with its need for highly skilled technicians, programmers and support personnel, has accelerated the demand for education and technology training throughout the world--and has accelerated the rise of credentialing and certification programs. Two affiliate councils of the American Association…

This chapter describes the evolution of the workforce development mission and its current crisis in the face of changing training demands, shriveling government support, and rising competition. Two alternative future paths are outlined: a baccalaureate degree-oriented new vocationalism and a renewed emphasis on serving the training needs of…

Describes the role of North Carolina's 58-campus community college system in workforce training to meet expanding industries' needs. Reports on state coordination of training programs and funding methods. Explains ways of securing training equipment and facilities, the relation of these training programs to other college programs, and…

Recent reforms assume that welfare recipients can achieve employment if welfare agencies just give them a "push". Over the next ten years, the "employment solution" to welfare faces the following three challenges: (1) employing all employable welfare recipients; (2) helping them get and keep good jobs; and (3) reconstructing a…

This bulletin presents data from a survey covering research and development (R&D) expenditures of state government agencies (exclusive of state universities and colleges) for 1973. Charts showing expenditures, by source of funds of selected years and share of character-of-work components in state agency R&D activities, are shown in the report.…