Redefining educational success

By The Gazette Editorial Board

---

Earning a four-year college degree has long been the gold standard for career success. It's still a valuable educational pursuit for many, but a growing number of economists and academics say more U.S. students should consider other options, such as technical training or two-year schools, which have been embraced in Europe for decades. Many of the jobs needed today and expected in the future don't require a traditional, increasingly expensive four-year degree - but they do require specialized advanced skills and training.

Martin Scaglione is one of those experts advocating for a change in the public's bias toward four-year degrees. The president of Iowa City-based ACT Workforce Development Division told national reporters last year that our nation needs to redefine educational success: “certification as the new education currency - documentation of skills as opposed to mastering curriculum.”

Which is one reason we think it makes sense for Kirkwood Community College to explore the establishment of more regional education centers. Kirkwood launched the initiative with the August 2009 opening of the Jones Regional Education Center in Monticello. Now college officials are talking with local K-12 school districts about locating similar centers in Washington, Linn and Johnson counties.

The regional center offers options that many if not most K-12 districts can't afford - primarily, more convenient, affordable access to advance placement college courses and classes in computer technology, engineering, construction, automotive trades and other specialty areas. Students can explore career options and better weigh their post-high school education plans to help them determine what path is best for them. It also can help them avoid piling up excessive college debt by making better choices sooner in the process.

And that's exactly what more students should be doing, suggests a recent report from ACT, best known for its college admissions and placement tests and also providing work force development services.

By 2014, about 45 percent of all U.S. jobs will require “middle skills” - those that require more training than low-skill jobs but not a four-year college degree. However, only 25 percent of the nation's work force will have such skills - a big gap that also provides career opportunities for high school graduates.

Clearly, Kirkwood's leadership in adapting to the fast-changing needs of modern industry and business will be vital to many Eastern Iowa students' success and our region's economic future. Take notes, Iowans.

n Comments: thegazette.com/

category/opinion/editorial or

editorial@sourcemedia.net