Schooled for the job market

Much of the current push for education reform is built on the premise that the United States will not remain economically competitive if it doesn’t dramatically raise its education level. But in a new analysis of government projections, the Economic Policy Institute says things aren’t so dire.

According to the institute, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the demand for college-educated workers will rise by just 1 percentage point over the next 10 years, when 28.7% of jobs will require a college degree.

"Given that 30% of the workforce already has a college degree or more and that education levels will continue to increase, it does not seem that there is any gross inadequacy of workforce education, to say the least," the institute says.

-- Mitchell Landsberg