Colleges cut training for scarce skills

The New York Times 04 March 2012

As state funding has dwindled, public colleges in the United States have raised tuition fees and are now resorting to even more desperate measures – cutting training for jobs the economy needs most, writes Catherine Rampell for The New York Times.

Technical, engineering and health care expertise are among the few skills in huge demand even in today’s lacklustre job market. They are also, unfortunately, some of the most expensive subjects to teach. As a result, state colleges in Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Colorado, Michigan, Florida and Texas have eliminated entire engineering and computer science departments.

This squeeze is one result of the states’ 25-year withdrawal from higher education. During and immediately after the last few recessions, states slashed financing for colleges. Then when the economy recovered, most states never fully restored the money that had been cut. The recent recession has amplified the problem.
Full report on The New York Times site

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