Report Closing the Gap: Meeting California’s Need for College Graduates By Hans Johnson, Ria Sengupta Bhatt Apr 16, 2009 California faces a shortage of almost a million college-educated workers by 2025. Taking a practical approach, this report finds that this education-skills gap could be cut in half by modest investments in programs aimed at expanding college attendance rates, increasing transfer rates from community colleges to four-year institutions, and boosting graduation rates at four-year institutions. As the state’s economy becomes increasingly reliant on highly skilled workers, a confluence of trends—the retirement of baby boomers, and demographic shifts toward groups with historically low rates of college attendance—makes these investments all the more crucial to the state’s continued economic success.
California Counts, Report Can California Import Enough College Graduates to Meet Workforce Needs? By Deborah Reed, Hans Johnson May 23, 2007 Economic projections for California indicate a continuation of the trend toward a more highly skilled economy. But projections of educational attainment for the future population tend to predict a wide gap between the levels of skills the population is likely to possess and the level of skills the economy is likely to need. This issue of California Counts assesses whether California will be able to attract enough college graduates from other states and other countries to close that gap. The authors conclude that because of the sheer numbers of migrants required and other factors, it is unlikely that migration alone will solve the problem.
blog post California is Still Golden for College Graduates By Hans Johnson Jun 20, 2017 California ranks second among all states in net gains of college graduates from other states, even as it ranks first in net losses of less educated adults.
blog post College Graduates Have Higher Net Worth By Hans Johnson Jul 12, 2017 In California, median household net worth is almost four times higher for adults with at least a bachelor’s degree ($356,000) than for high school graduates ($95,000).
blog post Testimony: The Need for College Graduates in California’s Future Economy By Hans Johnson Nov 1, 2017 California needs to enroll more students in college—especially in our four-year institutions—and ensure greater success of those already in college.
blog post Testimony: California Is on Track to Close the Degree Gap By Hans Johnson Feb 25, 2020 Hans Johnson, director of the PPIC Higher Education Center, provides legislative testimony on California’s progress in addressing a projected shortage of highly educated workers.
Report Will California Run Out of College Graduates? By Hans Johnson, Sarah Bohn, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Oct 12, 2015 California’s higher education system is a critical driver of the state’s economic progress. As the state’s economy continues to change, will its workforce be ready for the jobs of tomorrow? This report updates and extends projections of California’s workforce skills through 2030, focusing on the supply and demand for workers with a bachelor’s degree. We find that the state will fall about 1.1 million college graduates short of economic demand if current trends persist—a problem we call the workforce skills gap. Even the arrival of highly educated workers from elsewhere is unlikely to be large enough to fill this gap. Today’s college graduates have better economic outcomes than those who do not hold a bachelor’s degree. Over time, college graduates have seen lower rates of unemployment and higher wages than other workers—even through the Great Recession—suggesting that college degrees have become increasingly valuable in California’s labor market. The future workforce skills gap looms large. But California and its higher education institutions can take several practical steps to close it. The core of a new plan for higher education should include increasing access to the state’s four-year institutions, improving college completion rates, expanding transfer pathways from community colleges, and being smart about aid programs.
Policy Brief Policy Brief: Understanding the Effects of School Funding By Julien Lafortune, Stephanie Barton May 18, 2022 A wide body of recent research offers insights into how and where additional dollars to fund K–12 public schools can improve student outcomes such as test scores and graduation rates. Estimates also reveal how long it may take to close gaps by race and income, based on current trends in funding.
blog post California Remains on Track to Close the Degree Gap By Hans Johnson, Marisol Cuellar Mejia May 18, 2021 Six years ago, PPIC projected a shortage of 1.1 million highly educated workers in California by 2030. Today—despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic—the state is on track to close this gap.
