Report California’s Health Workforce Needs: Training Allied Workers By Shannon McConville, Sarah Bohn, Laurel Beck Sep 18, 2014 Over the next decade, California’s growing and aging population will require about 450,000 new health care workers. Given the importance of associate degrees and postsecondary certificates in growing health care occupations—and the need for a diversified health workforce—the state needs to ensure that its two-year institutions are preparing technical and support workers for rewarding careers.
Report California’s Need for Skilled Workers By Sarah Bohn Sep 17, 2014 If recent trends continue, California is likely to face a shortage of workers with some college education but less than a bachelor’s degree by 2025. State and federal policymakers have increased their focus on boosting educational opportunities for this segment of the workforce. This report examines labor market outcomes among workers with some college training to shed light on the types of jobs that hold the most promise for future workers and the state economy.
Report Higher Education in California: New Goals for the Master Plan By Hans Johnson Apr 23, 2010 California’s Master Plan for Higher Education defined a strategy to meet the state’s needs in 1960—but today, California faces new challenges. By 2025, the state will have one million fewer college-educated workers than the economy will require, according to PPIC projections. Updating the Master Plan is crucial to closing this skills gap. This report proposes that the plan set explicit new goals in several key areas, including UC and CSU eligibility levels, community college transfers to four-year institutions, and college completion rates. Supported with funding from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation as part of the California 2025 project on the state's future challenges and opportunities.
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.
Policy Brief California’s Future Workforce: Will There Be Enough College Graduates? Summary Dec 7, 2008
Report California’s Future Workforce: Will There Be Enough College Graduates? By Deborah Reed Dec 7, 2008 Over the past several decades, the demand in California for college-educated workers has grown. But the supply of college graduates has not kept pace with demand, and it appears that this “workforce skills gap” will not only continue but widen. This study examines the causes, magnitude, and likely consequences of the potential mismatch between the level of education the future population is likely to possess and the level of education demanded by the future economy. The author concludes that if current trends continue, California will experience a serious shortfall of college graduates by 2025, unable to meet its needs even through the migration of college graduates from other states.
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.
California Counts, Report California’s Community College Students By Christopher Jepsen, Ria Sengupta Bhatt Nov 15, 2006 California's community college system is the largest postsecondary education system in the country—with more than 2.5 million mostly part-time students enrolled in more than 100 campuses. This issue of California Counts takes an in-depth look at this population. It finds an extremely diverse student body in terms of race/ethnicity, age, educational level, and academic goals in school. However, few students accomplish their goals, such as transferring to a four-year institution or earning an associate's degree. This is a major challenge for the system and the state because community colleges enroll over 70 percent of all public higher education students in California.
