More Skills, Fewer Degrees for Gov. Jobs
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CounterCurrent: Week of 7/5
More Skills, Fewer Degrees for Gov. Jobs
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
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Category: Value of College Degree; Reading Time: ~2 minutes
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** Featured Article - New Executive Order Fights Credential Inflation In The Federal Workforce by Preston Cooper ([link removed][UNIQID]#1a383a1d5759)
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The last month has come with a flurry of executive orders from President Trump. Recent directives include those issued to help protect ([link removed][UNIQID]) American monuments and statues from rioters, jumpstart ([link removed][UNIQID]) the economy amid the continuing pandemic, and reform ([link removed][UNIQID]) policing practices in response to widespread civil unrest. Regardless of one’s stance on Trump’s frequent use of executive power, it’s here to stay.
One order, issued on June 26, has not received the airtime other orders directly pertaining to the blisteringly fast news cycles in which we find ourselves. Titled “Executive Order on Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates ([link removed][UNIQID]) ,” the directive moves to prioritize job skills over college degree credentials in federal hiring, thus “modernizing” government hiring practices through methods that have been used by the private sector for years ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
Trump correctly recognizes ([link removed][UNIQID]) that “Unnecessary degree requirements exclude otherwise qualified Americans from Federal employment, impose the expense of college on prospective workers, and disproportionately harm low-income Americans.” The new order will require federal agencies “to focus hiring on the skills job seekers possess, rather than focusing on whether they earned a college degree” and “to revise and update outdated Federal job qualification standards and candidate assessments, improving the quality and competency of the civil service.” The order also works to expand apprenticeship programs and allocates greater funding for vocational education programs.
The National Association of Scholars commends President Trump’s directive, as it will help Americans get back to work and secure a government job without requiring otherwise-qualified applicants to have a college degree in order to do so.
As many say, “college is the new high school,” an aphorism with a kernel of truth—degrees have grown increasingly ubiquitous and therefore decrease in job market value year on year. Meanwhile, the quality of classroom instruction continues to nosedive, producing students trained primarily for progressive activism and ill-equipped for such basic workplace tasks as cohesive writing, critical thinking, and substantive conversation. A liberal arts education is no longer liberating ([link removed][UNIQID]) , and the positive correlation between a college degree and tangible job skills has never been lower.
If colleges and universities continue to abdicate their responsibility to truly educate students by enriching culture, pursuing truth, shaping character, and preparing them for a practical vocation, then they deserve to lose students who can find job training elsewhere for a fraction of the cost.
In this week’s featured article ([link removed][UNIQID]) , Preston Cooper of Forbes further details President Trump’s order and breaks down the motivating problem of “credential inflation.” He writes
Credential inflation shuts out experienced, qualified job candidates who are perfectly capable of filling certain roles simply because they lack the right piece of paper. It also deprives employers of a pool of talent. Most perniciously, it convinces young jobseekers that they need a bachelor’s degree or even a graduate degree to succeed in the labor market, forcing them to spend tens of thousands of dollars and years of their lives pursuing unnecessary credentials.
Yes, public health professionals will still need to receive university training; attorneys will still need to go to law school; doctors will still need to attend medical school. But for the many government jobs that do not require such specialized knowledge or skills, “the order will create more job pathways for the two-thirds of Americans who do not have college degrees,” but who do have marketable job skills. This bodes well for the future job market and the many qualified citizens who will benefit from these hiring reforms.
Until next week.
John David
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
Read More ([link removed][UNIQID]#1a383a1d5759)
For more on the value of a college degree:
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May 28, 2020
** On the Liberating Arts ([link removed][UNIQID])
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Forest Hansen
A liberal education is a liberating education, and the residential liberal arts college is specially set up to free a student to become a person.
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April 20, 2020
** Coronavirus and Student Character ([link removed][UNIQID])
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David Randall
Social justice education, civic engagement, and service learning have proven ineffective in shaping college students' character.
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March 16, 2020
** Help students think twice before they go into debt ([link removed][UNIQID])
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Neetu Arnold
President Trump recently unveiled his 2021 budget proposal, which contains several provisions designed to mitigate the student debt crisis.
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January 08, 2017
** Making Citizens ([link removed][UNIQID])
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David Randall
The “New Civics” redefines civics as progressive political activism. Though camouflaged with soft rhetoric, the New Civics, properly understood, is an effort to repurpose higher education.
** About the NAS
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The National Association of Scholars, founded in 1987, emboldens reasoned scholarship and propels civil debate. We’re the leading organization of scholars and citizens committed to higher education as the catalyst of American freedom.
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