Does Higher Education Need to Change?

By Tom Selinske

We have a crisis of misalignment of education with job needs. Tom Selinske suggests some answers.

When I attended college I wrote my papers on an IBM Selectric typewriter, with auto correction. Now we have voice activated devices with more computer power in our hand compared to computers that used to fill entire rooms in the 1970's. Our environment has changed and so the question is does higher education need to change?

How many of you think too many college students have excessive student debt after they graduate?

How many of you know someone who is working in a job that is not a fit for their education level?

What I'm seeing today is a misalignment of resources and how we are delivering education with our current system. A while ago, Pasadena City Council member Victor Gordo shared with me a story of a young man who attended Culinary Institute, spent many thousands of dollars for his education and, upon completion, only could find a job paying $10.00 per hour and unable to repay his college debt.

He is not alone, as countless other young college graduates have seen their prospects dwindle in current times. We have a crisis of confidence. In the book "Other Ways to Win" the author researched looking at the job market needs now and into the future. His premise is that approximately 20% of jobs in the future will require a 4 year or advanced degree, 60% of the jobs will require a technical certificate and the remaining 20% of jobs will not require any kind of formal education.

What have we done? Over the last forty years we have built an education system where we have created an environment compelling everyone to go to college or else have limited opportunities. Another crisis.

I think we need to step back and ask why? In looking over the last forty years we have had veterans coming back from the wars and entering college with the assistance of the GI bill. We have had the civil rights movement rightly working to correct where we had admissions policies where students from underserved communities were not always given a chance to pursue higher education or achieve student success when they are enrolled. Even today many, students of Latino and African American decent are not performing and improving at the same rate as other student groups.

Again, we have a crisis.

What is it going to take to better align our education system with the growing demands of the 21st century workforce and our current students?

We need to rethink how we deliver education. There are growing efforts to align education along career pathways with what industry requires students to know when they graduate. There is more career and technical education for high paying jobs that doesn't require a four year degree and massive college debt. Yet we have not embraced that there are many more career alternatives then just going after a four year degree. Why?

How would you react if I were to tell you, I counselled your son based on his interest and skill level, to become an electrician? And if he chose that path, there would be support getting the training needed for a job right now. When he completed his training he had the potential of making $60,000 a year in salary or more and support himself and his family and, continue to pursue his education, if he desired, and eventually become an electrical engineer. How would you react?

To build multiple pathways to success, we need to think differently about education. Locally, Pasadena City College can take actions to increase dual enrollment where high school students get access to college classes on their school sites and earn both, high school and college credit in the same class.

We can work towards improving the counseling system where students receive early support to discover, their interests and natural abilities and then build a path of study customized to their needs. In other words, delivering personalized education.

We can also improve access to classes with innovative scheduling, hybrid and online classes and assist teachers keeping their skills at top levels in a rapidly changing technological environment.

These are a few ideas of tackling a crisis for students and industry. Together, we can be ready for tomorrow-today. With your help, we can make the change.

Tom Selinske +8 year school board member at Pasadena Unified School District and Award winning college professor and Candidate for Trustee at Pasadena City College.

http://www.TomforPCC.com 626-233-4252