- There are currently 6 million job openings in the United States.
- Job openings are in part due to a huge tech oriented skills shortage.
- The current administration plans on gutting public education and removing subsidies that have been necessary for young adults to receive post-graduate higher education.
- The New Republican spending bill will likely make the current skills shortage worse.
On a course set by years of dwindling job prospects and poor pay outlook for entry level jobs in the United States, young American’s have tacked on roughly 1.3 trillion dollars in student loans to pursue American prosperity. On average, that is $30,000 per student, and it’s already on top of an economy in already increasingly high debt burdens. Since the U.S. government is in control of the student loan debt, it is no surprise that Republicans would try to reduce the size of student loan borrowing. The country and it’s consumer’s debt is a time bomb, they would say.
Unfortunately higher education is another victim of the country’s bubbling equity markets. Cheap debt has fueled increased university costs across the country. Where costs have already skyrocketed past some families ability to afford higher education for their children, Republicans are intent on exacerbating the current dire situation.
The New York Times has already posted an article on how the bill is currently riddled with Republican social agenda, but the situation could get worse if Republicans are capable of changing the dynamics of the current student loan programs. The Republicans are also wanting to get rid of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a program that many teachers use to forgive their debt. Think of this program as one of the reasons somebody would pursue the difficult profession of education, by pursuing a job in community service.
Not only will there be substantial cuts to Federal funding, but incentives placed on post-graduate education will be cut, making the job of paying back education more difficult for those who are pursuing a Masters degree or higher.
Unfortunately, many jobs in the country require these degrees. Not only that, but for many fields, getting a Masters is the only true way of setting oneself apart from the rest.
Republicans are in denial if they believe that we shouldn’t be promoting education. Income statistics show that those that have higher education have an increased earnings potential that has been widening for 4 decades, compared to their high school counterparts.
Not only that, but there is growing consensus among the business community that many of the jobs that are available now will not be available in the future due to automation.
Senator Lamar Alexander of the state of Tennessee is the leader of the Senate chamber’s education committee, and is pushing for a start date of April of this year on the Prosper Act. It’s important that Tennesseans urge their leaders to take ample steps to anticipate the countries likely highly automated future, and promote the education needed for Americans to get the jobs that are already in high demand and plentiful right now.
