In the post-World War II period, workers with a high school diploma or less were able to attain jobs with middle-class wages in American industry. Good jobs were available in manufacturing and other blue-collar industries that employed large numbers of high school-educated workers. But as automation, globalization, and related phenomena have led…

The manufacturing workforce has been shaped by decades of industry transformation. Modern manufacturing requires workers with a diverse set of skills to perform functions such as research and development (R&D), product and production design, marketing and sales, and customer support. While workers with a high school diploma or less dominated…

A college degree pays off--but by just how much? In this report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the authors examine just what a college degree is worth--and what else besides a degree might influence an individual's potential earnings. This report examines lifetime earnings for all education levels and…

Education and earnings interact in complex and often unexpected ways--but there are rules to the game. "The College Payoff," a new paper from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, uses in-depth data analysis to identify, illuminate and elucidate those rules. This executive summary provides a glimpse of the education and…

The New England states, like the rest of the nation, are finally starting to show signs of a recovery from the Great Recession of 2008, albeit at different paces. Three of the states, however, still have unemployment rates that are about four percentage points above where they were before the recession began in 2007. Arising from this recovery,…

Argues that, although the U.S. has dropped to sixth in the world in high school graduation rates and ranks last when comparing gains in enrolling youth in college during the last decade, the country still wins on economic measures. Adds that, because of sheer size, the U.S. also has more top students. (Contains 10 references.) (NB)

In today's economy, access to postsecondary education or training has become the threshold requirement for individual career success. The increasing economic value of postsecondary education is good news in a society that strives to make economic opportunity subservient to individual merit, rather than family background. At the same time, the…

While no one can predict the future, today's economic and demographic realities suggest the opportunities and challenges that will face America in the years to come. The U.S. economy has already undergone dramatic changes in the latter part of the twentieth century. The extension of product and labor markets has expanded global competition, and…

This report discusses the education and empowerment of Hispanic Americans, stressing the importance of expanding access to educational opportunity from preschool through graduate and professional school. The report focuses on closing the educational and opportunity gap faced by Hispanics in the United States. After an introduction, "A Hard Look at…