Matter of Degrees – Why Education Matters

0

B.S., M.S., Ph.D., M.B.A. – more than fancy suffixes to put at the end of signatures or add to resumes.

Each results from investments by the student who obtains a degree as well as government, taxpayers, businesses, family members and other supporters.

Providing affordable educational opportunities isn’t just a means of boosting incomes and opportunities for individuals – it’s also key to providing a pipeline of qualified workers to local businesses, spurring research and development, and fostering innovation.

That’s especially true in Los Angeles County, home to six public universities, scores of private colleges and satellite campuses as well as a couple of dozen community colleges.

Overall enrollment inched up this year at campuses around the county, continuing a rebound from recent slow growth that followed some declines during the recession (see related story, page 12; lists on pages 16, 18, 24).

Indeed, challenges remain for California, where the cost of education has skyrocketed since the days when a kid who studied hard and made the grades could count on nearly free tuition at a state school. It hasn’t helped that tuition assistance programs among private employers appear to be going the way of private pensions.

All the more reason for society to commit to keeping tuition and other costs at our state schools in check. That will be a key to ensuring talent to meet the needs of today’s employers as well as industries that we can’t even see yet.

Businesses can help by supporting employee development and considering where tuition assistance and other steps might make sense.

It will pay off in the end.

You can’t swing a stick in Silicon Beach without hitting a USC or UCLA grad.

UCLA alone has 350 research labs and institutes.

Cal State Los Angeles will soon open BioSpace with an eye on training talent for the local life-sciences sector.

Caltech, one of the nation’s best engineering schools, remains a source of top talent for the local aerospace industry, home to venerable companies such as Northrop Grumman Corp. and cutting edge newcomers such as Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

None of that is guaranteed to simply roll on.

UCLA, Caltech and USC fell in this year’s annual rankings by Times Higher Education of research universities worldwide.

All three remain in the top 100 globally – UCLA and Caltech are top 25 – but the slight drops in the rankings for all three of our leading schools is a reminder to all that education should not be taken for granted.

No posts to display