The United States has been under producing college-educated workers for 30 years, and is paying for it with increased income inequality.

1. The Undereducated
American
By: Anthony P. Carnevale and Stephen J. Rose
June 26, 2011

2. Overview
• Over the past 30 years, the demand for college-
educated workers has outpaced supply, resulting in
economic output below potential and growing income
inequality.
• The current recession and grudging recovery hide the
fact that we are underproducing college graduates.
• The demand for college-educated workers is growing
much faster than the supply.

3. Attainment of college degrees, 25-34 year olds in
OECD countries
Source: OECD, Education at a Glance (2010)

4. Demand for college-educated workers
• In order to meet increasing technological demands and
to reduce income inequality, the U.S. needs an additional
20 million college-educated workers by 2025:
– 15 million new Bachelor’s degree holders
– 4 million workers with non-degree postsecondary credentials
– 1 million workers with an Associate’s degree
• Meeting this goal will result in a labor force in which 52
percent of workers will have a B.A., A.A., or graduate
degree, and another 25 percent have some college but no
degree.

5. Wage increases
• Wages for all groups will rise: wages for those with a
high school diploma will rise 24 percent; wages for
those with an Associate’s degree will rise by 15
percent; and wages for Bachelor’s educated workers
will rise by 6 percent.

6. Change in earnings by attainment level
Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce calculations from the
statistical framework presented in Autor, Katz, and Kearney (2008) "Trends in U.S. Wage
Inequality: Revising the Revisionists," The Review of Economics and Statistics.

7. Conclusion
• Increasing the number of people in the workforce
with postsecondary credentials to 20 million has
many benefits:
– It creates a more competitive economy and more
equitable prosperity
– It boosts GDP by $500 billion and adds over $100
billion in additional tax revenues
– It helps achieve the President’s goal of being number
one in the world in terms of degree attainment among
the workforce.

8. For more information:
See the full report at: cew.georgetown.edu/undereducated
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