CCAP in the News: November 20, 2009

The WCF Courier cited CCAP's study on the higher ed labor force last week:

“According to the Center for College Affordability and Productivity the number of administrative staff at universities nearly doubled between 1987 and 2007. During that same time, the study shows full-time equivalent instructional positions grew by only 50 percent, with many of the new positions being part-time.“

The NY Times Choice blog quoted Richard Vedder's remarks in a recent CHE article.

“A large subset of our population should not go to college, or at least not at public expense.” Mr. Vedder’s argument centers on the diminishing number of jobs that require a college degree.

The Daily Texan quoted Richard Vedder in an article last week:

college is a waste of time and money for most students. Vedder said not everyone who goes to college is qualified, and some of the jobs in highest demand do not require a four-year degree.
Vedder also said he sees a mismatch between the types of jobs in demand and those in supply. Many graduates will end up with jobs that have nothing to do with their college majors and do not require the critical thinking skills learned in college, he said.

“There’s a lot of mail carriers in the United States with bachelor’s degrees, and there are a lot with a high school education, and I don’t think the college graduates do a better job of delivering the mail than high school graduates,” Vedder said.

Of the jobs in greatest demand, Vedder said the top 30 or so do not require a college degree. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the top 10 occupations with the largest job growth, only one requires at least a four-year bachelor’s degree.

Andrew Gillen was quoted in an article in the Staten Island Advance this week:

Like homeowners who took subprime loans they could not pay when the housing market crashed, the number of college graduates defaulting on loans is rising nationally in one of the worst job markets in 25 years.

"It's not the same kind of financial implosion, but there are definitely parallels," said Andrew Gillen, research director for the nonprofit Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington.

"If you've maxed out your loans through the government and you've taken out some private loans, you are looking at a significant chunk of your salary or wages that will be eaten up by this," he said.

Forbes features a story this week that ranks colleges in the Midwest based on the rankings compiled by CCAP and Forbes for its annual “America’s Best Colleges” rankings.