The Imperative of Skills Acquisition in Higher Education: A Call to Action

The Imperative of Skills Acquisition in Higher Education: A Call to Action

by | Sep 20, 2024 | Policy

By Gregory W. Fowler, PhD

Today’s rapidly evolving job market makes new demands of higher education, as learners turn to shorter, just-in-time learning experiences—flexible, stackable, and cost effective—to build skillsets explicitly tailored to their professional objectives. It is critical that lawmakers move to support and empower institutions that recognize and embrace this worldview, removing obstacles that impede efforts to recognize, standardize, and validate learning experiences that prioritize skills acquisition.

Gone are the days when skills-based learning was synonymous with vocational training or viewed as a reductive approach to learning. Today, rapid advances in technology demand flexibility, agility, and adaptability, and employers are increasingly likely to value practical over theoretical knowledge. Instead of automatically equating a traditional credential with competence or mastery, employers and learners alike are placing greater emphasis on an individual’s ability to demonstrate and acquire necessary skills.

Fundamental shifts are needed in postsecondary learning if we are to prepare a workforce capable of thriving in the 21st century, and institutions must be prepared to provide necessary knowledge and skills, assess and validate them, and communicate them in ways that are meaningful to both learners and prospective employers. This offers the new administration an opportunity to make an immediate and lasting economic impact across large and often underserved populations, including those who seek credit for prior learning; those with some college and no degree; displaced workers who are reentering the workforce, upskilling, or changing careers; learners in the military; and millions more. 

These learners ask for and expect stackable certificates, certifications, or micro-credentials that can be evaluated and easily refreshed. They demand assurances that the skills they seek will have value in the future, and that they can be updated and augmented in response to emerging trends or technologies.

In response, my own institution—University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC)—has embraced skills as the foundation of our learning experiences. This includes taking deliberate steps to identify and name the skills we teach in our core products and mapping those skills to career paths.

It also involves embracing a worldview that values learning no matter where it happens. We pride ourselves on being the nation’s most transfer-friendly institution, accepting credit from a wide variety of learning providers, and we evaluate and grant credit for prior learning, whether it is gained on the job or in military training or demonstrated via assessments.

This approach is one that we have identified and embraced as vital for the continued relevance of our institution and, indeed, of postsecondary learning, but it comes with challenges, and again, offers lawmakers the opportunity to support real and impactful change in the lives of learners everywhere.

Several steps can be taken to support the transition currently underway.

  • First, skills-focused learning experiences are built around different measures of success, and the federal government can empower recognized accreditors to include standards that are applicable to skills-based programs. This could also encourage greater acceptance of short-form learning experiences, reducing the focus on credit and contact hours as the main criteria for federal financial aid eligibility.

  • Equally important, by incentivizing and recognizing partnerships with industry leaders and employers, lawmakers can encourage the development of curricula that align with current and projected job market demands while supporting and rewarding those employers who invest in workforce and career development, thus contributing to an agile and competitive workforce. (Simply increasing the $5,250 cap on untaxed educational benefits—in place since 1986—would support such investment.)

  • Finally, by voicing support for and spotlighting innovative teaching methods and learning environments that facilitate skills acquisition—such as project-based learning, internships, and collaboration with industry partners—lawmakers can underscore and promote the value of skills-based learning and accelerate its acceptance in mainstream learning and work environments.

In short, by recognizing, validating, and legitimizing skills acquisition as a central goal of education, the federal government can take crucial steps toward growing a workforce positioned to meet the demands of the modern economy. Similarly, by supporting postsecondary providers that embrace this approach, lawmakers can ensure that students are equipped with the skills they need to succeed in their careers and contribute to our nation’s prosperity. This shift will require cooperation among policymakers, educators, industry leaders, and third-party providers, and by supporting it, the new administration can affect lasting and impactful change that yields greater socioeconomic mobility and economic growth.

Think outside the degree

Think outside the degree

by | Sep 19, 2024 | Working Learners

By Anne Kress, NOVA

The third annual Northern Virginia Workforce Index reveals a region mirroring the struggle of many major metropolitan areas: a booming economy but a persistent talent shortage.

Companies are hiring, but workforce availability is a challenge that traditional methods of sourcing and qualifying talent are failing to meet. Over 60% of the Index’s survey respondents identified an overall shortage of interested or available candidates as the key barrier.

While we might think breaks in the talent pipeline impact only “big name” employers, the workforce shortage affects the entire ecosystem. Almost half of Virginians are employed in small businesses, which constitute over 99% of employers in the Commonwealth. The lack of a qualified and available workforce impacts quality of life locally: neighborhood shops and services, new and longtime entrepreneurs, and the small- and medium-sized enterprises that form an essential and critical supply chain for larger employers are all challenged by the talent gap.

Our market has many candidates who would be ideal for persistently vacant positions, though businesses won’t find them if they don’t change how and where they look. It’s time to rethink our approach.

Most employers rely on word-of-mouth, online job boards, and/or social media. Few are using internships and apprenticeships, two methods of recruiting and retaining a workforce that have long proved to be effective. 

Since the pandemic, enrollment in NOVA’s short-term, industry-recognized credential program, Fast Forward, has grown by double digits annually. These students are telling us the idea of spending two years in college, let alone four, is unrealistic and unwelcome. Employers who are ready to make the skills-based hiring shift will find a stronger and growing talent pipeline. They benefit, and so do the employees, who, on average, increase their earnings by about 79% thanks to their Fast Forward credentials.

Employers should consider something else: Think outside the degree. 

In today’s market, in-demand skills hold high value: In their responses to the Northern Virginia Workforce Index, 60% of employers say a candidate’s formal education is not important in making hiring decisions. Yet, most of these same employers identify bachelor’s degrees as very important or essential even to entry-level positions. In fact, Northern Virginia job postings are more likely (32%) to require a bachelor’s than are national postings (22%).

A move to skills-based hiring, even in part, would immediately widen the talent pathway and begin to close the workforce gap for our region and country. When employers remove what Opportunity@Work calls “the paper ceiling” of a four-year college degree, the pool of talent expands dramatically. More than 70 million adults in the U.S. are what Opportunity@Work deems “STARS“: individuals skilled through alternative routes who do not hold a bachelor’s degree. They comprise fully 50% of the U.S. workforce.

Across the country, largely in response to the lingering labor shortage, there is a national trend towards relaxing education and degree requirements to emphasize skills-based hiring instead. The Burning Glass Institute and Harvard Business School call it “the emerging degree reset,” and note it has the potential to greatly expand the labor market.

NOVA is the largest public higher education institution in Virginia and the largest provider of talent in the region. Our students have outstanding GPAs and a drive to succeed; they have completed internships, clinicals, and fieldwork; they have triumphed in the essential skill of time management; they are leaders on campus and in the community; many are military veterans, making them eligible for security clearances; and state data shows that 81% of Virginia’s community college students will stay in the Commonwealth after they graduate. Yet, the results of the 2023 Northern Virginia Workforce Index suggest despite their ongoing challenges in sourcing and retaining talent, employers are looking past these individuals time and time again.

The charge to employers is clear: change where and how you look for talent, the way you assess candidates, and how you partner with institutions dedicated to skilling, reskilling, and upskilling workers in the fastest-growing fields. Seize the opportunity to think differently about your current, future, and potential workforce. Think outside the degree.

Policymakers Need Better Data on Economic Outcomes in Higher Education

Policymakers Need Better Data on Economic Outcomes in Higher Education

by | Sep 17, 2024 | Innovation, Policy

By Stig Leschly, Postsecondary Commission

Almost all US college students – no matter who they are and no matter where or when in life they attend college – report that a higher wage, a better job and a viable career are their top motivations for going to college. A safer and brighter economic future is not the only reason students go to college, but it is the most common and fundamental one.

Policymakers are responding to this nearly unanimous ask from students that colleges improve their economic prospects. State and federal lawmakers are migrating toward accountability and funding policies based on whether institutions improve the earnings and employment trajectory of their students.

For this policy movement to thrive, it needs to address a mundane but serious problem: the inadequacy of the data systems on which it relies..

The data systems in question are mainly those run by education, labor and tax agencies in DC and in states. These data systems track and link together the vast student-level data – on students’ college costs, on their wages before and after attending college, and on their demographics – that enable policymakers to draw accurate and fair conclusions about the economic outcomes produced by institutions.

Unfortunately, these data systems are often under-resourced, siloed, or inaccessible, which stalls and distorts good policymaking.

For example, when policymakers assess institutions’ earnings outcomes, they are often left to rely, because of data limitations, on the absolute wages that students experience at some point after they enter or graduate from an institution.

This is problematic. Students’ absolute wages say almost nothing about the effect (positive or negative) that a given institution has on those wages. An institution might succeed in graduating students into high-wage jobs simply by selecting students who were already on track for high- paying careers.

Conversely, a non-selective institution that graduates students with seemingly unremarkable salaries might actually be doing extraordinary work if students’ actual wages are far above the wages they would have earned if they had never enrolled.

This sort of analysis of wage outcomes – often called value-added earnings analysis or wage gain analysis – takes into account the need-level and baseline earnings outlook of students who enroll in a given institution, and as a result, is far more accurate and fair than standard approaches to assessing earnings outcomes. And, it is possible only where underlying data systems are in good order.

An added benefit of surfacing the wage gains that institutions produce for their students is that it allows policymakers to make sense of the prices that institutions charge. Whether an institution is over- or under-priced depends on whether the institution generates wage gains for its students that are large enough to compensate students in a reasonable timeframe for their cost of attendance.

In another example of how data gaps inhibit good higher education policy, federal and state lawmakers have not done enough to monitor and regulate the economic outcomes of college entrants who never graduate, a group of students who comprise nearly half of US college-goers. This policy lapse is partly because lawmakers know so little about non-completers and their outcomes. They are typically under-tracked and sometimes completely ignored in higher education data systems. With better underlying data systems, policymakers would be able to track and set policy for the economic outcomes of all college entrants, not just those who complete.

This development would amount to a break-through. It would allow policymakers to sort out in detail – institution by institution, program by program – when dropping out is a problem for students (because it saddles them with high costs and no degree) and when it is not a problem for students (because they exit early and with few financial consequences).

A promising policy movement toward better economic outcomes in US higher education has started. For this movement to persist and for it to mature into sound accountability and funding policy, it needs to run on better student-level data systems in DC and in states.

Federal and state policy makers should immediately and aggressively fund improvements to these data systems. In its pursuit of better economic outcomes in US colleges, public policy can only be as good as the data on which it is based.

Empowering working learners with President Mark Milliron

Empowering working learners with President Mark Milliron

by | Sep 16, 2024 | Underserved Communities

Empowering working learners with President Mark Milliron

Why it matters

These steps could create a more inclusive higher education landscape, better serving all students:

• Recognition: Acknowledge diverse student populations, including working learners.

• Regulation: Implement an “ander pause” to ensure policies work for all students.

• Collaboration: Include diverse voices in policy development.

The big picture

A “better with” approach, rather than “better than,” encourages institutions to collaborate and improve education for all learners.

What’s next

The President’s Forum aims to be a leading voice for working learners, advocating for supportive policies and sharing best practices.

The bottom line

Embracing diverse educational models and student needs could significantly impact how education is delivered and accessed.

Lisa Vollendorf on Higher Education Access and Reform

Lisa Vollendorf on Higher Education Access and Reform

by | Sep 13, 2024 | Innovation, Policy

Lisa Vollendorf on Higher Education Access and Reform

Why it matters

President Vollendorf’s insights look to shape future higher education policies, especially regarding access and affordability.

Key takeaways

  • Empire State University focuses on accessibility and serving learners of all ages.
  • Current incentive structures in higher education need reform to prioritize student success over institutional metrics.
  • Pell Grant program requires updates to better serve non-traditional students.
  • State reciprocity is crucial for serving diverse populations, including military personnel and Puerto Rican students.

What’s next

President Vollendorf calls for the Department of Education to:

  • Rethink Pell eligibility and consider a Pell completion program.
  • Incentivize collaboration across institutions.
  • Focus on serving learners of all ages and backgrounds.

The bottom line

Higher education institutions need support to serve a diverse student population, focusing on student success rather than institutional success.