Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans, and Longform
A Policy Agenda to Develop Human Capital for the Modern Economy
, Booth School of Business, The University of Chicago Glenn Hubbard, Columbia Business School, Columbia University Amy Ganz, Aspen Economic Strategy Group
Working Group Members
Sylvia M. Burwell, American University
Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., Purdue University
Melissa S. Kearney, The University of Maryland
Ruth Porat, Google
Penny Pritzker, PSP Partners
Margaret Spellings, The University of North Carolina System
Globalization and technological innovation have intensified the demand for college- educated workers. In 2017, college graduates earned 65% more than non-college- educated workers and were twice as likely to be employed. This proposal recognizes the simultaneous need for more college educated workers and also for a higher level of labor market skill among non-college educated individuals. We propose to invest in the upskilling of the American workplace by better leveraging the potential of the community college sector. Community colleges offer widely accessible and flexible postsecondary education and midcareer training opportunities. They are also a gateway to four-year colleges for millions of students. Yet, despite their promise and potential, community colleges are under intense resource pressures that constrain the educational and labor market outcomes of their students. We call for a new federal grant program to provide funding to community colleges, contingent on institutional outcomes. Our cost estimates suggest new funding on the order of $22 billion per year. This new public investment in community colleges would promote the policy goals of: (1) increasing the supply of college-educated workers; (2) expanding opportunities for midcareer skill development and training; and (3) providing better pathways into the workforce for non-college-educated workers. We additionally support a set of six complementary proposals to further advance these stated goals.
Related
LongformPublicationsSection 4: Strengthening Practices to Improve Job Quality
While the rideshare apps have increased convenience, they’ve eroded job quality. See how the Drivers’ Cooperative is helping to end exploitative conditions.
UWU, led by Job Quality Fellow Neidi Dominguez, engages unemployed/underemployed workers, a population that has not been mobilized at scale since the 1930s.
MIT Center for Constructive Communication Director Deb Roy explains how the caricatures Republicans and Democrats paint of each other diverge from reality, and the ways local newsrooms can leverage their “trust capital” and emerging technology to promote listening and understanding amid disagreement.
