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Findings based on which our President has called for increasing graduation rates and ensuring more Americans earn a degree dates back to the Spellings Commission report during the previous administration. This report on the future of American education says that there is no sufficient workforce in our country required for future economic growth.

Statistics are depressing to say the least. American workers without any type of degree amount to two thirds of our population. This situation is especially alarming as knowledge of our workforce is the only aspect based on which we can confidently compete in the global economy.

After the World War II, we have slipped from our position and no more lead the world in educated workforce. Today we continue to struggle to remain in the top ten positions among developed countries. The current trend clearly reveals that as compared to the present generation, the future generations will have even lesser number of educated workers.

Today, millions of jobs are not filled even though the unemployment rate is high only due to reduced degree completion rate. The situation is so alarming that for certain jobs, companies are forced to bring in skilled labor from overseas or outsource. Americans continue to be unemployed as they lack the necessary skills for the jobs.

A major reason why Americans are unable to keep pace is the cost of education. Cost of education in our country is going up even faster than health care costs. Even then, cost cutting programs are not being taken advantage of by unions or employers.

For example, job-related training programs are being conducted by many unions and corporations. These programs could be taken into consideration for college credit evaluation. For those completing degrees, this credit can be taken into consideration.

Evaluations are being conducted by many adult-serving institutions including the American Council on Education. Through tuition-savings, it is possible to recover the cost of such reviews. Evaluated in-house programs can be used to cover content that are now offered as a part of college courses funded by tuition assistance programs.

Organizations such as Excelsior College, Educational Testing Service and The College Board offer credit-by-exam programs. Employers and employees can benefit from these cost-saving initiatives.
Employees can independently study degree related topics using this approach to pass assessments and earn credits. This will cost them just a fraction of the cost they would spend on classroom courses. These affordable assessments can be combined with free online courses.

Students just have to spend around $10,000 to earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited regional institution. Time and money can thus be saved by the sponsoring employer and the employee student through such training evaluations provided by the union and employer.

It can be motivating for students to earn such credits shows a Council on Adult and Experiential Learning research. Graduation rates among students receiving such credits are found to be higher.
All tools available to us must be effectively deployed especially at this time when we are in desperate need for educated workforce.