Decline In College Degrees Threatens U.S. Global Competitiveness

A drop in the number of college degrees, particularly in the sciences, is threatening U.S. supremacy in scientific advances and the nation’s edge in the world marketplace, according to an American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) commission report released this week.

“As much as troubling times might turn our focus inward, the Great Recession itself dramatically demonstrates that global interconnectedness and global competitiveness are simply different sides of the same coin,” said Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard, chair of the Presidential Leadership and Global Competitiveness Commission. “Our graduates compete with the best from around the world; they must not only be world class but fully world aware.“

The report on the commission’s yearlong study cites data showing that the United States and Germany were the only two nations in which those aged 25–34 have attained less education than their parents’ generation. U.S. students today are also less likely to earn degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, skills that are in high demand in the digital age. Read full article: http://www.aascu.org/media/media_releases/release09oct27.htm