POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
ISSUE
How do we ensure that students successfully gain skills and knowledge aligned with Minnesota’s
workforce needs throughout the education-to-workforce pipeline?
BACKGROUND
In order for Minnesota to thrive in the global economy, we need to ensure that our workforce is
adequately trained to move Minnesota forward as an economic leader. The time to prepare the workforce
for these opportunities is now - by 2018, 70% of Minnesota’s jobs will require postsecondary education.1
Demographics are shifting in Minnesota. The highly educated baby-boomer generation has begun to
retire, and the workers replacing the baby boomers are fewer in number, more diverse, and less
educated.2 The Georgetown Center on Education and Workforce report “Help Wanted: Protecting Jobs
and Education Requirements through 2018” provides a forecast of job availability and education levels in
Minnesota. By 2018, 2.14 million jobs of the 3.11 million forecasted jobs will require training beyond high
school. New jobs and openings due to retirements/worker movement will generate 902,000 vacancies;
and of these 620,000 will require postsecondary credentials. 3
Currently, of the 2.8 million workers in Minnesota, 45.8% have at least an associate degree and an
additional 23.6% have some college but no degree. 4 To meet market demand for postsecondary-degree
work, approximately 150,000 additional workers will need to complete postsecondary training over the
next decade.
Increasing postsecondary completion rates in Minnesota involves encouraging and assisting workers who
have not completed degrees as well as improving the education pipeline to ensure more students attain
postsecondary education. Future economic success as a skilled workforce state depends on all
Minnesotans reaching their maximum potential.
Georgetown Center on Education and Workforce “Help Wanted: Protecting Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018”
(2010) http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/FullReport.pdf
1
2
Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Council “All Hands on Deck” (2011).
Georgetown Center on Education and Workforce “Help Wanted: Protecting Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018”
(2010) http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/FullReport.pdf (Source for graph and data)
3
The Lumina Foundation “A Stronger Nation through Higher Education” (March 2012), citing U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census
and 2010 American Community Survey.
4
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
Minnesota has one of the widest education achievement gaps in the country – persisting among racial
groups as well as across socioeconomic levels – and an increasing number of Minnesota students are
low-income, first-generation students, and students of color. Postsecondary education success is critical
to breaking the cycle of poverty and ensuring better life outcomes.5 Over the course of a lifetime, college
graduates will earn on average roughly one million more than peers with only a high school diploma. 6
The challenge starts with increasing the number of students graduating from high school. Although the
state boasts an overall four-year graduation rate of 76.9%, the rate drops to 50.4% for Hispanic students
and 49.1% for African-American students. However, in some areas, the rates are more stark – the fouryear graduation rate for African-Americans in the Minneapolis school district is 36% and 38.5% for lowincome students. 7 Given current demographic trends and high-school graduation rates, the number of
high school graduates is projected to decline by over 5,000 students from 2010 to 2017. 8 However,
between drop-outs and continuing seniors, an average of 14,000 students are not graduating each year
from Minnesota high schools 9 – graduating more high school students each year will help reduce the
decline in Minnesota high school graduates.
Although Minnesota has a strong K-12 education system, not all students are adequately prepared for
higher education and entry into the workforce. In 2012, 54% of Minnesota students who took the ACT met
three of four ACT benchmark scores (English composition, algebra, social sciences, and biology) for
college and career readiness, but only 36% of students met all four benchmarks.10 The Minnesota State
Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU) reports that forty percent of recent public high school
graduates need at least one remedial course within two years of high school graduation11.
Redoing high school academic work is costly - around $2.3 billion in expenses to students and U.S.
states each year.12 According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, if Minnesota’s high schools were to
graduate all students ready for college, the state could save as much as $88 million in college
remediation costs and lost earnings.13
Remediation also affects the likelihood of students persisting in postsecondary education, and is cited as
a key reason why many students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, drop out.14 Even
students not requiring remediation feel as if they do not have adequate mastery of skills and abilities
expected by higher education institutions and/or employers. 15 To ensure postsecondary success,
students must graduate high school with a solid set of academic skills that prepares them for
postsecondary academics – but they must also have the critical thinking and interpersonal skills required
for success in college and the workplace.
Once a student enters a postsecondary program, we must ensure they complete their education and
training in a timely and cost-effective manner. While seventy percent of high school graduates move on
to some form of postsecondary education, fewer than half of those who start complete a degree or
5
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “Postsecondary Success” (2009).
6
“The College Payoff” - http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/collegepayoff-complete.pdf
7
Minnesota Department of Education, http://education.state.mn.us/MDEAnalytics/Reports.jsp
8
Minnesota Office of Higher Education, http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/pdf/Enrollment/INSIGHT/InsightNov10.htm
9
Alliance for Excellent Education, “Minnesota High Schools” (March 2012) http://www.all4ed.org/files/Minnesota_hs.pdf
10
ACT, “The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2012”
Minnesota State Universities and Colleges, “Getting Prepared: A 2010 Report on Recent High School Graduates Who Took
Developmental/Remedial Courses” (January 2011), http://www.mnscu.edu/media/newsreleases/2011/pdf/1_getting_prepared.pdf
11
12
Stronger America Schools, “Diploma to Nowhere” (2008), http://www.deltacostproject.org/resources/pdf/DiplomaToNowhere.pdf
13
Alliance for Excellent Education, "Minnesota High Schools” (March 2012) http://www.all4ed.org/files/Minnesota_hs.pdf
Paco Martorell & Isaac McFarlin Jr., “Help or Hindrance: The Effects of College Remediation on Academic and Labor Market
Outcomes” (2010)
14
Achieve, Inc., “Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College & Work” (2005),
http://www.achieve.org/files/pollreport_0.pdf
15
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
certificate within six years.16 Completion needs to be more attainable. Schools can start by providing
accessible entrance and exit points along a continuum of experiences that lead to certificates, degrees,
and employment.
Postsecondary education provides opportunities for students to develop important knowledge and is the
key stepping-stone to career and family-sustaining wages.17 To that end, postsecondary programs must
align their training with jobs available in the community. While the August 2012 unemployment rate in
Minnesota was 5.9% (with 70.8% labor force participation), certain industries and regions continue to
report significant job vacancies.18
Minnesota businesses are facing a “skills gap” in the labor market – there is high demand for skilled
workers but the skill levels of job applicants and employees are not keeping pace with the needs of
employers. One of the most critical reforms needed to address the skills gap is workforce alignment –
higher education and workforce programs must align their training with what businesses need.
In order to be successful in postsecondary education, a student needs to have gained
college/career ready skills and knowledge during their K-12 education. Likewise, in order to be
successful in the workplace, students need to gain the right skills and knowledge during their
postsecondary training.
A “skilled workforce state” requires effective education and workforce development to occur at
every point in the pipeline.
Minnesota’s education to workplace pipeline, spanning pre-K to postsecondary education, needs repairs
to remedy the misalignment. There are key points where cracks have emerged, which can inhibit all or
groups of students from moving smoothly through the education system into the workforce.
Beginning with early childhood, we must ensure our future workers are starting school ready to learn.
Moving into K-12 education, we must diligently guide our future workers through academic checkpoints –
from early literacy to foundational math to rigorous college preparatory work – and measure their
progress. Turning to postsecondary education, a strategic combination of legislative and practical
solutions, supported by business-education partnerships, will improve alignment of the workforce pipeline.
The benefits of fixing the pipeline are compelling but the costs of not doing so may be even greater – the
Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that the U.S. loses nearly $2.5 billion due to the reduced
earning potential of college-drop-outs each year.19
Institute for a Competitive Workforce, “Leaders & Laggards: A State-by-State Report Card on Public Postsecondary Education”
(2012).
16
17
The Forum for Youth Investment, “Ready by 21, Credentialed by 26 Issue Brief Series #1” (2010)
18
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development:
http://www.positivelyminnesota.com/Data_Publications/Data/Current_Economic_Highlights/State_National_Employment_Unemploy
ment.aspx
19
Alliance for Excellent Education, “Paying Double: Inadequate high schools and community college remediation” (2006)
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
Postsecondary education is the key to a skilled workforce as well as the research and innovation that
drives job creation and productivity. Many of the skills and innovations that drive economic growth,
employment, and entrepreneurialism stem from postsecondary education knowledge and experiences.
Future economic growth and business expansion in Minnesota will require even greater skill acquisition
and innovation from our workforce.
Pressure to ensure Minnesota’s workforce remains globally competitive has intensified. Countries around
the world are increasing their emphasis on postsecondary education attainment, with our competitors
surpassing the U.S. in postsecondary attainment among 25-34 year olds by up to 40%.20 Nations like
China and India are more focused than the U.S. student’s technical skills. In math and science, countries
whose students perform at higher levels in these areas show larger rates of increase in productivity than
do similar countries with lower-performing students.21 Minnesota must have an education system
capable of producing a globally competitive, highly-skilled workforce.
POLICY
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce believes that key improvements to the postsecondary education
system will enhance the state’s global economic competitiveness. To that end, the Minnesota Chamber
of Commerce supports recommendations that ensure students are ready for postsecondary education,
can afford and benefit from postsecondary experiences, and are well prepared for the workforce.
I.
Postsecondary Readiness: Better Alignment of K-12 and Postsecondary Education.
Too many students graduate with deficiencies in their education – not just academic skills but also critical
skills. The standard for high school graduation must be that all students are ready – both practically and
academically – for college and career.
Align K-12 academic standards and assessments.
Minnesota K-12 academic standards, especially in STEM areas, must measure students’ academic
mastery of grade-level standards and demonstrate their readiness for postsecondary education.
Strengthening core K-12 academic standards and better aligning high school graduation standards with
college entrance requirements will reduce postsecondary remediation. Working together, the K-12
system and postsecondary institutions must identify common thresholds for college readiness and assess
student progress toward those thresholds.
The academic knowledge by which a student is measured for high school graduation should align with the
state’s measures of readiness for postsecondary education. As set forth in the Minnesota Chamber of
Commerce Business Plan for K-12 Education Reform, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce supports
the requirement of high school graduates being able to demonstrate through a graduation-required
assessment that they meet the minimum state graduation standards and are ready for postsecondary
instruction.
Through assessment tools, students who are in need of support to attain postsecondary readiness can be
identified in high school and provided with appropriate instructional interventions, such as targeted
readiness coursework and tutoring. Assessments can also identify students who are ready to jump-start
their postsecondary study and workforce preparation.
Expand postsecondary options for high school students.
Postsecondary option programs provide high school students with opportunities to earn credit towards
certificates and degrees from high schools, two-year colleges and four-year universities. Although many
20
The Itasca Project, “Higher Education Partnerships for Prosperity”, June 2012
21
Hanushek et al, US Math Perspective in Global Perspective, November 2010
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
opportunities to jump-start postsecondary preparation are available throughout Minnesota, not every
school offers such programs, and not every student understands the benefits of working toward college
credit while still in high school.
Postsecondary enrollment options must be expanded to provide all students with access to courses and
programs that begin in high school and connect to postsecondary degrees. The Minnesota Chamber of
Commerce supports strengthening and expanding established jump-start and dual-credit postsecondary
programs, including postsecondary enrollment options (PSEO), early college, concurrent enrollment,
advanced placement, international baccalaureate, career and technical education, and college level
examination placement (CLEP). Additionally, high schools and post-secondary programs should be
encouraged to work together to develop community-based early college programs designed to meet local
and regional workforce needs.
Integrate career and workforce awareness into the K-12 system.
Students must gain an early understanding of their education goals. To that end, postsecondary
readiness and critical skills must be integrated into K-12 education so that students begin their
postsecondary experience with a roadmap for what training they need to achieve their career goals.
Exposing students to a variety of career paths will help them choose the most appropriate postsecondary
program for their interests and abilities. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce supports assessing
students’ career interests and critical abilities, ensuring that all students develop a college and career
attainment plan, and providing expanded access to career pathway resources.
Providing students with greater exposure to careers, early and often, assists them in gaining critical skills
and in developing their career roadmap. The business community should be enlisted to provide K-12
students with exposure to industries, job opportunities, and “the world of work”. Successful chamber-led
and local programs such as “CEOs in the Classroom” and “Future Workers” should be brought to greater
scale or replicated throughout the state.
Helping families, especially low-income, first-generation, and non-native English speaking homes,
understand the importance of postsecondary education also improves postsecondary attainment and
completion. Starting in K-12, families should be offered tools to help them understand postsecondary
readiness, recognize the range of career paths available to students, and navigate financial planning.
II. Deliver Value - Make Postsecondary Education More Affordable and More Efficient.
Minnesota must maximize its investment in postsecondary education to prepare and educate the
workforce. Institutions’ best practices should be identified: programs that teach and train most
successfully should be rewarded while ineffective and duplicative efforts are discontinued. Institutions
need to deliver training efficiently and in a cost-effective manner. As we drive to produce a higher number
of degrees, we must not sacrifice quality.
Students also need to understand their investment in postsecondary education. Program costs and the
prospects for employment and earnings in each field of study should be transparent and accessible to
students so they can make educated choices based on their resources and career goals.
Reforms to the postsecondary system must focus on:
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Performance funding and cost control
Meeting workforce demand
Affordability for students
Improving completion and reducing remedial education
Expand performance-benchmarked funding and improve cost control efforts.
The public systems must focus on efficient delivery of an education that prepares students for the
workforce. State resources should be tied to measurable goals and accomplishments. As suggested by
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
the Minnesota Workforce Inventory, the flow of existing public resources should utilize a common set of
goals and measures of success, particularly within the public postsecondary systems.
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce supports requiring the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota
State Colleges and Universities to meet performance and accountability benchmarks before receiving
their full state appropriation. Performance benchmarks should reward outputs, including but not limited to,
increased completion rates, improved minority student enrollment and graduation, increased degree
production in workforce priority areas, and increased online learning opportunities.
Inputs must also be examined and improved - public institutions must achieve operational efficiencies in
system administration and streamline non-academic functions. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
supports further procurement studies across postsecondary systems and state agencies to identify
savings and maximize economies of scale. Streamlining the system to eliminate duplicative and
redundant program offerings is also vital to improving system performance.
Produce certificates/degrees in workforce demand areas.
To produce certificates and degrees in areas of greatest demand, postsecondary institutions need to
understand the workforce needs not being met. Further, as the United Way has identified, development of
consistent criteria and outcome measures that can be easily reported to policymakers and students is
critical to a successful workforce development system in Minnesota.
As part of an ongoing workforce assessment initiative, state agencies and institutions should produce an
annual report detailing workforce supply and demand projections, including projected shortage areas,
high-growth employment sectors, and significant skills gaps by industry sector. Paired with reporting on
degree/certificate attainment, employment and earnings by public and private institutions, this report will
help inform the public on what programs are producing outcomes and better align programs with the
state’s economic needs.
Students also need more information to understand workforce demand areas and to identify the programs
and institutions producing the degrees that meet those workforce needs. Programs and institutions should
provide transparent and accessible information to allow students to make informed decisions on the
institutions and programs that best fit their needs. Information on the actual cost of attending individual
institutions, degree completion rates, learning outcomes, and employment outcome and wages must be
made readily available to students.
Program offerings need to adjust quickly to the state’s economic needs as well. Administrators should
have sufficient flexibility in making changes to curriculum and program offerings on relatively short notice
to meet changing workforce and technology needs quickly.
Improve affordability for students.
State funding should help students in need attain postsecondary education; especially those students
who “but for” state aid would not be able to access postsecondary education. The Minnesota State Grant
Program, the state’s need-based aid program, should be utilized to help lower-and middle-income
students access and afford postsecondary education or training beyond a high school diploma at the
postsecondary institution of their choice. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce supports increasing the
percentage of the state higher education appropriation directed towards programs that distribute
resources directly to students. The percentage of direct student funding should be increased to 30%
percent of the state’s overall higher education appropriation, and funding should be accessible for both
traditional and non-traditional students. Further, the state should expand the parameters of the Minnesota
State Grant program whenever Congress expands Pell grant funding to maximize grants in Minnesota.
It is critical that more information on the availability and types of financial aid and the pitfalls of student
debt are provided to students and parents, especially of low-income and first-generation families. The
Minnesota Chamber of Commerce supports providing all students and families with financial information
and counseling to ensure that postsecondary education is attainable and affordable.
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
Reduce remediation and utilize prior learning.
Postsecondary institutions should not be in the business of remediation. Not only is remediation
duplicative of the responsibilities of the K-12 system, it also increases costs and is associated with
reduced completion rates. While the work of reducing remediation must begin with stronger K-12
academics, delivery of remedial education at postsecondary institutions can also be improved.
High schools should administer the basic skills placement assessment once during high school to identify
students in need of intervention (or ready to start postsecondary work). Targeted supports should then be
provided to help students reach postsecondary readiness and avoid remediation. Students in need of
support at the postsecondary level, such as returning learners, should be offered intensive support
through college or program readiness courses that can be offered online prior to matriculation or in the
first semester following matriculation. The costs of remedial courses should be minimized, and some
costs of remediation should be borne over time by school districts producing significant numbers of
students in need of remediation, especially in English and mathematics.
Institutions should be directed to establish a core curriculum centered on transferrable skills that does not
duplicate K-12 academic delivery and sets uniform articulation and transfer policies. Transfer policies
should be aimed at granting credit for students’ prior learning and preventing the loss of earned credits.
For example, reverse transfer agreements enable students to combine credits at two-year and four-year
institutions to receive an associate’s degree. Processes should also be better developed to award credit
for students’ prior learning through military experience and on-the-job training.
III. Build Collaboration, Drive Innovation.
Education and business must work together to produce a workforce whose industriousness, creativity,
and entrepreneurship will drive economic change and job creation in Minnesota. By further building
relationships that utilize Minnesota’s strong institutional research capabilities, business and education can
drive innovation and economic growth. Collaboration between schools and businesses also plays a
critical role in developing Minnesota’s workforce – not only to better understand what skills workers need
to be successful in the workplace but also to provide students with exposure to the world of work
Emphasize public investment in research and technology, and its role in the economy.
Research and innovation are critical to Minnesota’s future economic growth, and the state plays a key
role by investing in research and technology at state institutions. Research and technology institutions
play a key role in Minnesota’s economy by generating start-up companies, which create much-needed
jobs, attracting federal grants and private donations for research, and employing world-class faculty that
contribute to state and regional economic vitality. Emphasizing the investment in research made by the
state and the areas in which research is driving economic growth should be reported annually by the
University of Minnesota and other research institutions.
The state also has a fundamental impact on research by setting other public policies that affect the state’s
innovation. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce supports tax and regulatory policies that incent
continued investment in research, increase the ease of research ventures, and incent business
development.
Increase the role of the business community in producing skilled workers.
As the business community well knows, Minnesota’s economy is comprised of a robust metropolitan area
and several economic hubs throughout Greater Minnesota, and accordingly the workforce needs
throughout Minnesota vary by region as well as by sector. The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
supports the expansion of community-based incentives such as the leveraged equipment grant program,
which makes state funding available for acquisition of equipment for instructional programs that work with
local businesses to produce graduates in high-demand occupations. A series of more than 50 workforce
assessment sessions conducted by the Minnesota Chamber, MnSCU and DEED in 2012 highlighted
opportunities for development of sector-based business-education partnerships in transportation,
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce
manufacturing, healthcare, information technology, and engineering – these collaborative opportunities
should be further explored and funding sources should be identified.
Business can lead by example in helping more students gain career-ready knowledge and skills.
Employers should increase efforts to provide internships, apprenticeships, project experiences, and other
forms of work experience to improve students’ skills and readiness for the workforce. Institutions must
then develop more efficient ways for students to gain credit for these types of experiences. To support
ongoing coordination, funding sources to provide resources to existing local and regional workforce
development programs should be developed.
In addition to increasing training opportunities available to students, businesses can help educate
students on high-growth careers and high-paying jobs. Employers can not only visit classrooms but also
assist by proving data on high-demand careers and opportunities that can be made available to students
through easily accessible portals.
Another oft-cited reason for the skills gap is that the needs of businesses are simply not understood.
Through increased dialogue, employers can help educators understand the hard and soft skills necessary
to be successful in the workplace by quantifying and communicating what they need. The Minnesota
Chamber of Commerce supports involvement by the business community in establishing the
assessments recommended by the Itasca Group that would take the dialogue a step further by measuring
the type and quality of skills student attain from postsecondary training compared to those desired by
employers.
BUSINESS IMPACT
By 2018, 70% of Minnesota’s jobs will require postsecondary education. Minnesota’s workforce must
adequately trained to move Minnesota forward as an economic leader. To ensure that Minnesota is
distinguished as the “skilled workforce state,” effective education and workforce development must be
successfully delivered at every point in the pipeline and to an increasing number of students. Key
improvements to the postsecondary education system will enhance the state’s global economic
competitiveness.
Prepared by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce