Californians have thrived both economically and socially
because of the creativity and skills people have developed in our higher
education systems. But California is losing ground, with other states and
nations surpassing us in terms of both traditional four-year degrees and
focused technical training beyond high school.
This lack of a skilled workforce is already beginning to undermine the
potential for a strong economic recovery in California.
Sixteen respected business leaders and mayors from across
California have joined together to form the California Competes Council, a
nonpartisan effort to ensure that the state has college graduates with the
skills needed to drive the future California economy. I am serving as the lead staff person for the
Council.
The Council’s task is to analyze the well-documented gap
between emerging human capital demands and the projected number and quality of
graduates of California’s college and occupational training programs. By
bringing together leaders from both industry and government, the California
Competes Council will develop recommendations for improvement of the state’s
higher education systems to reinvigorate our pool of human talent and restore
it once again to be the envy of the nation.
I will be encouraging the Council to avoid a myopic view
that looks only at the University of California or to only focus on bachelor’s
degrees or engineering programs. We need
to take a comprehensive view of higher
education in California, assessing the role – and potential role — of the
state’s unique public colleges as well as private institutions. We should
consider the diversity of our future human capital demands, addressing both
traditional four-year degrees as well as technical training programs that
provide students with credentials after a year or two of study.
The Council includes CEOs from the technology, finance,
retail, service and construction sectors, as well as mayors from key cities throughout
the state. Higher education is a means
to achieve a more healthy democracy and society as well as a booming
economy. The group does not include
leaders from higher education so that it can focus on the state’s overall needs
without any appearance of favoritism to particular types of institutions.
Bringing business and civic leaders together will not
automatically solve any of California’s problems. But the California Competes Council can help
to pose critical questions and point to possible solutions that cut across the
current systems. I hope the Council will
not be afraid to step on some toes if that’s what it takes to restore
California’s leadership with higher education systems that meet the needs of
the residents of the state and of a vibrant future economy.
Robert Shireman was deputy
undersecretary of education in the Obama Administration in 2009 and 2010,
leading the successful efforts to reform student lending, simplify the
financial aid process, strengthen consumer protections, and focus national
attention on college completion. A native Californian, Shireman led the James
Irvine Foundation’s higher education program, and launched a California-based
nonprofit addressing issues of student debt and improving community colleges.
More information and complete list of the Council is available at http://californiacompetes.org