Page 88 - Crisis in Higher Education

62 • Crisis in Higher Education

countries to do the same work. Because the wage rate for this type of
work is much higher in the United States, these jobs naturally migrate
to other countries, causing this portion of the U.S. workforce to suffer
in terms of fewer jobs and declining wages. On the other hand, because
the United States has strength in designing and building complex
equipment, creating new and innovative technologies and products,
and providing sophisticated services, this part of the economy grows.
For the most part, these jobs require advanced education or specialized
skills, so wage earners in this segment of the economy benefit. As jobs
requiring low skill and low education leave the country, unskilled and
undereducated workers migrate toward jobs that cannot be exported,
such as those in fast food restaurants and landscape services.
2. Second, open borders, guest workers, and illegal immigration expand
the workforce. In some cases, immigrants have special skills and
strong educational backgrounds, which the United States needs.
In other cases, the immigrants are unskilled and undereducated,
so they compete in this already crowded segment of the job market.
This additional supply keeps wages low in many service businesses
like lawn care and housekeeping; some construction work, especially
homebuilding; and low-skill manufacturing jobs that have difficult
working conditions.

Therefore, millennials and future generations face difficult choices.
On one hand, they can seek jobs that pay well and require limited educa-
tion and skill while knowing that these jobs are becoming fewer and more
difficult to land. Or, on the other hand, they can pursue a degree in higher
education, which is expensive because the costs of tuition, fees, and books
have grown much faster than the rate of inflation, leading to crippling
student loan debt. Plus, if they graduate in the wrong field, they may not
find a job or they may find one that does not pay enough to repay their
loans and live comfortably. For these reasons and others, higher education
must address its underlying problems so everyone, including millennials,
is better off.
Evidence to support the dilemma faced by millennials is provided
by The Economics of Higher Education report prepared for President
Obama. The 2011 data show that the unemployment rate for workers
with less than a high school diploma was 14.1%, and their median wage
was $451 per week. With a bachelor’s degree, the unemployment rate
was only 4.9%, and the weekly earnings were more than double at $1,053.