We Need Supply-Side Education Policy

Article Summary

Kamala Harris announced that, if elected, she would eliminate degree requirements for hundreds of thousands of federal jobs and challenge the private sector to do the same. This policy, called “skills-based hiring,” aims to expand opportunities for non-college-educated Americans. However, despite its popularity, research shows that it has little effect on hiring. Employers still prefer college degrees as a way to differentiate between applicants, even if they don’t formally require them. Therefore, the real issue is the lack of alternative ways for workers to prove their qualifications. To create more opportunities for Americans without a college diploma, the government needs to approach higher education and workforce development differently.

What This Means for You

• Degree requirements are not the only barrier to job opportunities. Skills-based hiring, while popular, is not a comprehensive solution.
• To expand opportunities for non-college-educated Americans, the government should invest in supply-side policies for career and technical education, such as job training and credible nondegree pathways.
• Employers prefer college degrees as a signal of talent and grit, but there are alternative ways to prove qualifications that deserve more attention and investment.
• Despite recent efforts to increase the generosity of the Pell Grant and expand transparency in reporting college graduates’ outcomes, there’s still a need for demand-side policies that address the specific challenges of non-college-educated Americans.
• Future outlook: A scalable model for career-oriented training is the FastForward Program in Virginia, which has helped almost 45,000 learners and provided them with industry-recognized credentials.

Original Post

Key Terms

• Skills-based hiring
• Nondegree pathways
• Job training
• Career and technical education
• Credible alternatives to college degrees

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