CEO Su Jin Jez spoke on a panel at EdSource’s roundtable, titled “Degrees of value: How changing attitudes toward college challenge higher education in California.” She discussed California Competes’s research on the return on a college investment, which finds that higher education pays off for Californians, but its economic return isn’t shared equally along lines of race, ethnicity, and sex.
Roundtable description:
Is a college degree still the best path forward? It used to be that most Americans believed there is no greater engine of social mobility and economic progress than a college degree.
That has changed. Now the 4-year degree is facing increasing scrutiny from policymakers, students, parents and the public — not just because of what it costs, but because of questions about what it delivers. Many wonder whether college adequately prepares graduates for the workforce, with more people exploring alternatives like apprenticeships, certificate programs, and skills-based training. Some question whether those with a college degree actually fare better than high school graduates who pursue other pathways. New federal regulations passed over the summer seek to hold colleges responsible for helping graduates enter and succeed in the job market, connecting colleges’ access to federal student loans to graduate earnings.
This roundtable explored what these shifts mean for California’s colleges and universities — some of the largest public systems in the world and long touted as powerful drivers of socioeconomic mobility. Our expert panel unpacked these issues:
- Su Jin Jez, CEO, California Competes
- Ted Mitchell, President, American Council on Education
- Morgan Nugent, Superintendent, Fall River Joint Unified School District
- Michelle Quinn, Executive Editor, EdSource (Moderator)
