CONTRIBUTED BY
David P. Lewis
Richard Vedder and his colleagues at The Center for College Affordability and Productivity have published this extremely interesting analysis of the problem of college graduate underemployment – a problem evidenced by the fact that, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, more than 15% of taxi drivers have college degrees (up from 1% forty years ago). Among other things, the paper addresses the question of whether, with so many college graduates employed in jobs that do not require a college degree (a disconnect that is expected to continue to increase over time), we as a nation (and students individually) are “over-invested” in higher education and might be better served by moving away from a “college for all” mentality and toward the development of “alternative methods for certifying occupational competence.” CCAP’s analysis of this issue is highly informative, raises a lot of interesting questions regarding current higher education policies, and is well worth reading.
