Many of the problems in our education system stem from the misguided idea that worthwhile education occurs only on cloistered college campuses.
Many of the problems in our education system stem from the misguided idea that worthwhile education occurs only on cloistered college campuses.
F or decades, the federal government has propped up a college-for-all model that poorly serves millions of students and ignores the large majority of Americans who don’t — with good reason — pursue a four-year degree. It’s time to change course and reinvigorate worker education.
Most Americans — 62 percent over the age of 25 — don’t have a four-year degree. But the federal government neglects the interests of this American majority while showering cash on universities. The federal government currently spends about eight times as much on higher education as on workforce training each year and guarantees nearly $2 trillion in college debt. And just last month, President Biden announced that he would transfer roughly $500 billion worth of student debt onto the backs of American taxpayers — the most expensive executive action in history.
Instead of sparking a renaissance in American education, these one-sided policies have contributed to an academic Gilded Age. Educational standards and outcomes have fallen while universities have enriched themselves. Nearly one-third of college students drop out, over 40 percent of recent graduates are underemployed, and more than half of graduates work in fields they didn’t study. In the past 20 years, tuition prices have risen over 180 percent while college endowments ballooned to over $800 billion. From 1976 to 2018, total student enrollment increased by 78 percent, while the size of college executive management grew by 164 percent and the number of nonfaculty administrators rose a whopping 452 percent — meaning that administrative staff grew about eight times as much as student enrollment.
Americans need an alternative to college-for-all, but our current vocational-education system doesn’t cut it. Problems have festered for years thanks to low funding, bureaucratic micromanagement, and apathy from Congress. President Biden has only made things worse by crushing Industry Recognized Apprenticeships, a promising Trump administration initiative that would have expanded educational opportunities for workers. A 2017 Department of Labor review of its largest vocational-education programs found that the training “does not produce positive net benefits for customers, taxpayers, or society as a whole.” We don’t simply need to invest in worker education; we also need to reform it.
That is why I am introducing the American Workforce Act. This bill would provide non-college-educated American citizens with vouchers worth up to $9,000, which they can use to help pay for employer-led training programs that lead to high-wage jobs. Trainees would learn from employers of their choosing who offer full-time jobs that pay a wage of at least 80 percent of median household income for a given area. At the end of the program, employers could earn a $1,000 bonus payment if they choose to hire the trainee.
Rather than put government bureaucrats or university professors at the center of workforce education, this more dynamic approach empowers business leaders who understand what skills are required to succeed in the labor market.
This initiative would be open to citizens of all ages and backgrounds — from young adults looking to enter the workforce after high school, to mothers reentering the workforce after raising children, to ex-convicts restarting their lives, to workers forced out of careers by unfair foreign competition.
The American Workforce Act also includes safeguards to protect workers and ensure that the new system doesn’t devolve into the self-dealing and profiteering of the status quo. The bill requires employers to be transparent in their use of taxpayer funds, enables workers to take their vouchers elsewhere if they aren’t satisfied with a program, and instructs the Commerce Department to track trainee outcomes, review trainee contracts, and investigate complaints.
The initial cost of the American Workforce Act will be paid for by a tax on elite college endowments. Academics are fond of calling for the rich to “pay their fair share” — I’m confident they will welcome this opportunity to lead by example. In the long run, this program will likely pay for itself as wages rise, the skills gap shrinks, and federal revenues increase.
Many of the problems in our education system stem from the misguided idea that worthwhile education occurs only on cloistered college campuses. In reality, on-the-job training is the best and most practical education available. It is also the best investment to fix America’s post-secondary education.