Georgia joins a number of states this month in convening a new session of the legislature and welcoming a new governor. One of the most pressing challenges facing these new leaders is the state’s middle skills gap. Most jobs in Georgia’s labor market – 55 percent – are middle-skill jobs, which require more than a high school education but less than a four-year degree. However, only 43 percent of Georgia workers are trained to the middle-skill level.
NSC’s new brief, Closing Georgia’s Skills Gap through Financial Aid, outlines why the state needs more workers with associate’s degrees in high-demand fields and details two steps that the state could take to fill this need: (1) extend the time to earn the HOPE scholarship and (2) expand HOPE Career Grants to include associate’s degrees. NSC authored this brief in partnership with several Georgia-based organizations – Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Atlanta CareerRise, the Metro Atlanta Chamber, and the Atlanta Civic Site of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Producing more workers with associate’s degrees is only one part of filling Georgia’s middle skills gap, but it is a particularly important piece of meeting this goal. Currently Georgia does not produce enough associate’s degree graduates to meet employer demand. Between July 2016 and June 2017, Georgia produced about 19,000 associate’s degree holders while there are nearly 34,000 job postings requiring an associate’s degree.
Meanwhile Georgia’s associate’s degree students face significant financial need. Financial aid can help these students complete college, but because of program limitations HOPE - Georgia’s largest and most well-known college financial aid program – only reaches 15 percent of associate’s degree students.
1. Extend the time to earn the HOPE scholarship.
Associate’s degree students who are more than seven years removed from high school graduation are ineligible for the HOPE scholarship. More than two in five of Georgia’s associate’s degree students are older than twenty-five, making them likely ineligible for this crucial form of financial aid that can help them complete their associate’s degree and secure a well-paying job.
Georgia has established HOPE Career Grants to provide additional help to students pursuing technical certificates and diplomas in high-demand fields. Students must maintain a 2.0 GPA to qualify for the grant. The combination of the HOPE Grant and the HOPE Career Grant covers tuition for Georgians pursuing certificates and diplomas in targeted fields. However, associate’s degree students in these in-demand HOPE Career Grant fields cannot access this financial aid. Allowing associate’s degree students to access the HOPE Career Grant can help employers meet their most pressing needs for talent.
Now, at the beginning of new gubernatorial and legislative terms, is a wonderful time for Georgia’s leaders to take bold new steps to address its middle skills gap. NSC’s new brief shows exactly how they can begin.
Southern states face a skills gap and must adapt to a new U.S. economy in which most jobs require training beyond high school, according to a new report from the National Skills Coalition and the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and St. Louis, Building a Skilled Workforce for a Stronger Southern Economy.
Most of the jobs in the South are middle-skill jobs, requiring education or training beyond high school but not a four-year college degree. However, across the South, there are not enough workers trained to fill middle-skill jobs.
This middle-skill gap, however, isn’t insurmountable. Southern states could step up to the challenge of educating more of the region’s adults to close this gap. Focusing on grade school students alone won’t be enough to close the skills gap now. If each and every one of the South’s graduating high school students were to stay in the region and train for open jobs that require postsecondary education, there would still be unfilled positions.
Moreover, if southern states are going to close their skill gaps, they must provide more opportunities for all adults – including people of color – to access high-quality education and training. More than four in ten Southerners are people of color. A skilled and thriving southern economy must be an inclusive economy.
Use workforce development strategies, such as sector partnerships and work-based learning, as economic development tools capable of meeting industry needs.
Invest in communities to implement high-quality workforce development strategies at the local level.
Establish job-driven financial aid programs that are available to a wide range of students.
Form middle-skill training pathways and include comprehensive supportive services that enable completion.
Create state data systems that provide accountability on how training programs are helping residents with diverse needs get skilled jobs.
Set a bold goal for increasing the number of adults trained for skilled jobs.
Create a cross-agency “Skills Cabinet,” and task agency leaders with working together to develop and implement a strategy for meeting the state’s postsecondary attainment goal for adults.
In addition to the roadmap, this report also includes examples of current policy from southern states, proving that these policy changes may be implemented in the region’s unique context. Residents, businesses, and state economies are counting on their leaders to examine these policies and take the appropriate steps that will help them thrive now and in the future. In conjunction with the launch of this southern-focused report, National Skills Coalition is launching its Southern Skills Policy Initiative. Through this Initiative, National Skills Coalition will work with teams in five states –Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas – to advance policies that can build a skilled workforce.
In Georgia, we will promote policies that prepare more residents for skilled jobs by making it easier for people with low incomes to afford postsecondary training. Partner organizations include Center for Working Families, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, Annie E. Casey Foundation Atlanta Civic Site, Atlanta Career Rise, and Metro Atlanta Chamber.
In North Carolina, we will conduct research and engage key stakeholders to build more equitable pathways and work-based learning opportunities for skilled careers for students and workers of color and other underserved populations. Initial partner organizations include North Carolina Justice Center, North Carolina Community College System, and Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board.
In Tennessee,we will identify policies that address the non-academic and advising needs of working students so they can succeed in postsecondary training, as well as opportunities to promote apprenticeship, work-based learning, and postsecondary training that responds to industry needs. . Partner organizations include Complete Tennessee and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.
National Skills Coalition will also work with partners in Mississippi and Texas in 2018 to support in-state discussions on apprenticeship and work-based learning.
In Mississippi, we will discuss policies that help more parents build their skills while supporting their families by providing child care assistance to workers in pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs. Partner organizations include Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative and Moore Community House Women in Construction Program.
In Texas, we will discuss policies that expand apprenticeship and work-based learning opportunities for both adults and young people. Initial partner organizations include Educate Texas, Austin Community College, and the United Ways of Texas.
Through the duration of the Southern Skills Policy Initiative, NSC will create opportunities for partners from each state to share lessons learned with each other and other community leaders in the region.
This summer, the Georgia Department of Economic Development awarded $1.5 million to support the development of sector partnerships in six workforce regions in the state. The awards are part of a $3 million competitive grant program to build sector partnerships across the state under its High Demand Career Initiative.
Sector partnerships bring together multiple employers within an industry to collaborate with colleges, schools, labor, workforce agencies, community organizations and other community stakeholders to align training with the skills needed for that industry to grow and compete. These partnerships are required under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), and Georgia is using WIOA state discretionary dollars to fund its grant program.
In addition to providing grants, the Georgia Department of Economic Development is offering technical assistance to help regions develop partnerships. The department has created a Sector Partnership Guide hosted regional workshops, and is planning a grantee conference.
A coalition led by the Metro Atlanta Chamber, and in collaboration with Atlanta CareerRise, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, and Georgia Business Leaders United (BLU), started working with National Skills Coalition in 2015 to promote sector partnerships as a key way to address the skill needs of Georgia’s workers and businesses. Coalition members believe the state’s support for sector partnerships will help communities across Georgia make progress toward closing the skills gap. In fact, Metro Atlanta’s five workforce boards were jointly awarded a $400,000 two-year grant to develop partnerships in the healthcare, IT, and logistics sectors, in collaboration with Metro Atlanta Chamber and Atlanta CareerRise.
National Skills Coalition has advocated for states to provide funding, technical assistance, and guidance to support regional sector partnerships positioned to close the skill gap in key industries. We’re pleased to add Georgia to the list of states with such a policy in place. For more on how to develop a sector partnership policy in your state, check out NSC’s Sector Partnership Policy Toolkit.
Rachel Hirsch is State Network Manager at National Skills Coalition. Amy Lancaster is the Director of Workforce Development at Metro Atlanta Chamber, which works to advance economic growth, enhance the business climate and improve the quality of life for each and every person who calls Atlanta home.
Students in Georgia now have an online tool from which they can learn more about potential educational options in the state. In early January 2017, Georgia's Governor's Office of Student Achievement released the Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings (GHLE) dashboard. The interactive tool allows users to see how much money graduates of Georgia’s universities and technical colleges are earning one and five years after graduation. Users can view this information by institution, degree type, or major.
The state also released a companion report, Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings, analyzing graduates earnings information. The report found that wages tend to increase as students achieve higher levels of education – although earnings can vary significantly between programs of study and institutions.
The GHLE dashboard and companion report are populated with data from GA AWARDS, Georgia’s P20-W longitudinal data system. GA AWARDS contains data from the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia, the Georgia Independent College Association, the National Student Clearinghouse, the Georgia Department of Labor, and the Georgia Student Finance Commission. You can learn more about GA AWARDS and Georgia’s data infrastructure by visiting Georgia’s state page.
WDQC applauds Georgia for making more information about education and training options available to students and their parents. Our staff is available to provide assistance to other states looking to create data tools.
BLU: Why did you get involved in workforce work?
Mike: I have a history of working on things that aren’t easy. As the construction industry was struggling to find employees, I thought this was a great place to focus my energy. Helping the industry find solutions to complicated issues is one of the areas I found myself able to make a valuable contribution. I have now become passionate about developing a solution to this issue, I’m all about the solutions!
BLU: As busy as you are, how do you find time for workforce development?
Mike: I have a very unique role. About 20 years ago, Holder Construction Company’s CEO gave me a role with incredible flexibility to get involved in business critical initiatives. I spend a significant amount of my time on working with various trade associations within the construction industry and the initiatives and priorities these groups establish. Virtually all of these groups have been discussing the topic of workforce for years, but not making any real progress. Building on the experience I learned from BLU, I have significantly stepped up my efforts to increase and coordinate the various group’s efforts in the area of workforce development.
BLU: What do you value about being a part of BLU?
Mike: At this year’s BLU meeting, it clicked for me that we are a collective of businesses focused on Workforce Partnerships. The future of our country is dependent on being competitive with our workforce, so we need to band together as a business community to address these issues nationally and at our local level.
BLU: Why should other employers get involved in advocating for employer-led workforce partnerships?
Mike: Advocacy is critical at all levels - national, state and local. We can’t do this alone and we as employers have a much stronger voice when we come together to advocate. As a matter of fact when I came back to Georgia after my first Fly-In, I was looking for our local BLU. Since we didn’t have one, I’ve been partnering with my local industry association and looking to expand to our chambers to work on these issues at a local level and to see if we can organize businesses around workforce issues.
BLU: Tell me about Holder Construction Company.
Mike: Holder Construction Company is a commercial general contractor with approximately 750 employees and offices across the United States. We are consistently ranked as the largest data center builder in the U.S., and are involved in many other interesting projects such as a number of corporate headquarters, aviation projects and the new Falcon’s football stadium. One thing that I am especially proud of is that we have competed for the past 11 years in Fortune magazine’s best places to work for medium businesses and have been listed every year.
BLU: What is a hot button issue for you?
Mike: I was surprised to find that out of every 100 kids, approximately 22 don’t graduate high school; 26 graduate but are not going to college; 21 go to college but don’t finish their degree and only the last 30 or so go on to get their college degree. There is a lot of focus on the 30% that are going to and graduating from college, but we lose the other 70%. I don’t think we are doing enough for that segment of our population; we need to focus more on the 70%.
I think the community college debate is getting lost in the framing. The debate has become around the word “free”. I have learned from my engagement with BLU that spending on workforce training is an investment, an investment that is not lost for society. While people don’t necessarily want more “giveaways,” we need to make people aware that the community college and career and technical education create an environment for people to gain technical skills that will lead to jobs and self-sufficiency, thus increasing our nation’s ability to compete globally.
The business community needs to stand up and push for technical training and community colleges. As we have said through BLU, a four-year degree is not the only option. Effective community colleges engage businesses of all sizes, like those in BLU, to be sure the skills being taught are delivered in a consistent and high quality manner and meet the needs of the business community so that when they graduate they have the skills required for the jobs that are available. It is the responsibility of the business community to leverage workforce partnerships to communicate the skills that we need so that the journey from K-12 to community college to a career is seamless.