Higher education degree still valuable, NEPA higher education leaders say
As they entered prompts, the robotic arms drew squares with a highlighter on a large sheet of paper.
Vaquero, who resides in Carbondale, is hopeful the skills he's learning in the college's Robotics and Automation program will land him a job working with robots.
'That's kind of the future,' he said. 'Robotics and automation is basically going to be the primary choice for major corporations.'
As colleges grapple with declining enrollment, mounting student debt, high tuition and political debates over how they teach race and other topics, Americans are questioning the value and cost of a higher education degree.
Only 36% of adults say they have a 'great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in higher education, a decline from 57% in 2015, according to a report released last year by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation.
A similar survey conducted by the Pew Research Center last year found 35% of adults say a college degree is somewhat important, while 40% say it's not too or not at all important. Roughly half, or 49%, of respondents said it is less important to have a four-year college degree today in order to get a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago.
Leaders of higher education institutions in Northeast Pennsylvania say earning a college degree leads to opportunities in today's workplace.
Those with a degree earn $1 million more than those without one, are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to have health insurance, they said. Attending a higher education institution teaches students skills like the ones Vaquero and Kotcho are learning that can be transferred to the workforce.
Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, pointed to a survey the association conducted in 2023 showing eight in 10 employers agree a higher education prepares graduates to succeed in the workforce. Credentials, which are usually short-term programs that lead to a certificate, are also increasingly being valued by employers.
'There's a strong correlation between the knowledge, skills, mindsets and dispositions that employers are seeking, which they think are essential for success at the entry level and for advancement in their companies, and the liberal education that students receive,' she said.
The leaders say some professions, like health care, require that employees have a degree or certification.
'A lot of the programs that we offer require some sort of formal training,' T.J. Eltringham, Lackawanna College's chief operating officer, said. 'There's still that need for post-secondary training.'
Some of the college's programs, including nursing, cybersecurity and robotics, were launched with the intention of filling local employers' need for people with those skills. Students enrolled at the college, many of whom live in Northeast Pennsylvania, can fill those positions, he said.
'We're training students that are going to stay here and are working,' Eltringham said.
*
First-year students Karim Vaquero and Luke Kotcho program robots to draw a shape at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
*
First-year student Luke Kotcho provides instructions to a robot at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
*
Robots that Robotics and Integrated Technology Program Director Rob Crane and his students utilize in a classrom at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
*
Robotics and Integrated Technology Program Director Rob Crane talks about one of the machines in a classroom at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
*
First-year student Karim Vaquero gives a robot instructions to draw a shape at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
*
First-year student Luke Kotcho programs a robot at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
*
First-year student Luke Kotcho maneuvers a robot at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
Show Caption
1 of 7
First-year students Karim Vaquero and Luke Kotcho program robots to draw a shape at Lackawanna College in Scranton on Tues., March 11, 2025.
Expand
Robotics and Automation Program Director Rob Crane takes a hands-on approach to teaching his students different aspects of the fields.
'I think it prepares them in that they can hit the ground running from day one,' he said.
Students also learn more that prepares them for the workforce than just the classes in their major. Eltringham said college teaches students skills like communication and how to work with a team.
At the University of Scranton, students are required to take English, philosophy, theology and history in addition to the classes in their major. The Rev. Joseph Marina, S.J., the university's president, says these core curriculum classes teach students to be critical thinkers.
'We equip them to be ethical leaders, great communicators,' he said. 'They know how to problem solve at the workplace.'
Local higher education institutions are adapting to meet the needs of today's workplace. With technology evolving, students and faculty are learning to use tools like AI to support their work and learning, Marina said. The university has also evolved to accept students of all faiths and celebrates diversity.
Technology has also allowed the University of Scranton to expand its degree programs, offering many graduate degrees, most recently psychiatric nursing, online.
The construction of the Robert S. and Marilyn A. Weiss Hall on Madison Avenue on the University of Scranton campus will help develop the local workforce, Marina said.
Eltringham said the certificate programs offered at Lackawanna College allow students to obtain a certificate, enter the workforce and return for either an associate or bachelor's degree.
Pasquerella said colleges need to improve on aligning what students are learning with what they could do for a career. She said e-portfolios and other mechanisms, as well as internships, show students how the skills they're learning connect to careers.
'Just being mindful of the ways in which we can help through the curriculum make those explicit connections between curriculum and career will help them identify not only a job that's going to be high paying, but a job that will help fulfill them throughout their lives,' she said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Next Step: Can a millionaire store clerk retire at 55?
There's low-cost living, and then there's the freegan-living millionaire featured in this edition of The Next Step, Financial Planning's newest series. The series explores one simple question: What's the single most impactful move someone can make toward a stronger retirement? Here's how it works: We invite Americans to share basic details about their savings, income and goals. We anonymize their data and present it to professional financial advisors, asking what one step could make the biggest difference. READ MORE:The Next Step: Is this young lawyer on track to retire?As insurers axe Medicare plans, here's what advisors should knowTrump order opens 401(k)s to private assets: What advisors need to knowBetting on bitcoin is the smart move for financial advisors Each edition features one individual's story and practical advice from advisors. In this installment, we heard from a 42-year-old store clerk in Caldwell, Idaho. Here's how his finances stack up against the average American his age. The saver makes just about $37,000 a year, roughly 47% less than the median full-time worker in his age range. Currently, 60% of his income goes toward retirement savings. After taxes and withholdings, he receives $2,500 in monthly income, more than enough to cover his average monthly expenses of $900. Despite having a lower income than the typical American his age, the saver owns his home and has no debt. That puts him well ahead of the median debt figure for someone in his age bracket. The typical American between 35 and 44 years old reports a median debt figure of just over $140,000. "I purchased a home when I was 23 — when someone like me, making $12 per hour, could purchase a home," the saver said. "And have since paid it off." Along with owning his home, the saver keeps costs down by practicing freeganism, a lifestyle focused on cutting consumption and reducing food waste. Freegans often rely on discarded goods, using practices like dumpster diving, foraging, bartering and sharing. The saver has $1.1 million stowed away for retirement, nearly 25 times more than the median adult in his age range. About 20% of that is in pretax retirement accounts, while the other 80% is evenly split between Roth accounts and nonqualified accounts. Based on his current income and contribution rate, he saves about $1,850 every month toward retirement. His journey to this point wasn't linear. On the path to becoming a millionaire, he faced a handful of significant financial setbacks. He invested in his employer and lost everything when the company restructured, he said. After the housing crisis, he put significant money into mortgage-backed REITs, only to lose most of it. One of his earliest investments, General Motors at age 18, was wiped out when the automaker went bankrupt in 2009. Still, he said he's had some sizable successes as well. He purchased Meta on its IPO day and added Nvidia shares to his portfolio a few years ago. He also bought a few bitcoins at $400. Although he sold half of them in 2019, he has held onto the rest. "I did all this while never making over $20 per hour at my job," he said. "It has been a kind of wild adventure accumulating something for the future." The saver said he wants to retire at 55, with plans to spend slightly less per month than he currently does. Based on his desired retirement age, FP projected how much money he can expect to have at 55, given a $1.1 million starting base and a monthly contribution of $1,850. In the calculation, FP assumes an average inflation-adjusted return of 7%. General savings guidelines suggested by Fidelity Investments recommend having savings equaling one year of your annual salary by age 30, with the goal of having 10 times your annual salary saved by age 67. With current savings far beyond Fidelity's milestones, the saver said he's very confident about his ability to retire. The saver also said he does not have a spouse with whom he shares a retirement strategy, or any children. Based on the information he shared, Financial Planning asked advisors: "What single step could make the biggest difference in this person's retirement readiness?" Here's what they said: Responses have been edited for length and clarity. Bridging the gap for an early retirement John Power, principal of Power PlansThe most important thing he can do is refine his income needs in retirement based on what he wants retirement to look like. Retiring at 55 means he will need private health insurance for 10 years until he is Medicare eligible, and it can be quite expensive. He also needs to craft a withdrawal plan for the next five years to avoid penalties, then the next several years until he chooses when to claim Social Security. Jamie Ebersole, founder of Ebersole FinancialThe significant challenge will be that the individual will have no steady income stream starting at the age of 55, which means there is a significant gap between the time that he will be able to take Social Security payments and when it will be optimal to start drawing down on retirement accounts. So finding a way to fund the years from 55 to 67 or 68 will be critical. This usually is most tax efficient when assets are taken from taxable accounts, so building up those balances in addition to retirement accounts will be important for this interim period. Switching investment gears Carlos Salmon, partner at Wooster Square AdvisorsThe key next step is to move from aggressive growth to a more balanced and risk-aware strategy. He should consider converting pretax funds to a Roth account for better tax efficiency and plan ahead for health care costs before he becomes eligible for Medicare. In short, what got him to this point won't necessarily carry him through the next phase. Figuring out what retirement could look like Michael Espinosa, president of TrueNorth RetireThe single biggest thing this individual can do to prepare for retirement has little to do with money. This person needs to make sure that he has purpose, so that he is retiring to something and not just from something. I could give some specific pointers around optimizing his portfolio, and making sure he is prepared for medical coverage and all that good stuff, but I have seen where good savers have a hard time flipping the switch to spending. This, above all else, needs to get worked out: envisioning how he will spend his time, energy and focus once work is optional. Jamie Ebersole, founder of Ebersole FinancialObviously, he has done a great job of saving up to this point in his life. With what can be seen as a modest amount of income, he has been able to accumulate a very significant pool of assets for retirement. The next big step is to psychologically prepare for what it means to live in retirement. With a target retirement age of 55 and another 13 years to go until he wishes to retire, there's plenty of time to accumulate additional assets and to develop a plan for what retirement may look like. The key to successful retirement will be figuring out what he wants to do and how to budget for that. Psychologically, it can be very difficult to go from working to retirement if there is no plan in place that lays out what retirement would look like. I would suggest that the individual take some time to really think about what he wants to do when he retires and then try it out. He may also consider working part-time in order to stay active and smooth the transition. Lindsey Young, founder of Quiet WealthThe question is: Given the large amounts of savings relative to his lifestyle, what kind of retirement would this person like to have? Maybe he enjoys living a modest life, and in that case an earlier retirement is something to discuss. But it's also possible that he might want to buy a house, move to a larger house, go on trips, support family members or increase his charitable giving. Or maybe this person simply enjoys his work and would want to keep working even if he has enough money to retire today. In this situation, the right financial steps depend greatly on what this person's vision is for the next 10-20 years. That is why the best next step for this person is working with a financial planner to understand how different life paths would likely play out financially. For people who surprisingly find themselves being able to retire sooner rather than later, exploring different life options through a financial lens plays an invaluable role in clarifying a life vision for the coming years, which then can lead to the development of recommended financial actions. Ready to contribute? Financial advisors who are interested in contributing to future editions of The Next Step can submit their names and emails below, and Financial Planning will contact them when there is another opportunity to participate. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Chicago Tribune
20 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
President Donald Trump's tax law could cause Medicare cuts if Congress doesn't act, CBO says
WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficits caused by President Donald Trump's tax and spending law could trigger automatic cuts to Medicare if Congress does not act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Friday. The CBO estimates that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for Americans over age 65, could potentially see as much as $491 billion from 2027 to 2034 if Congress does not act to mitigate a 2010 law that forces across-the-board cuts to many federal programs once legislation increases the federal deficit. The latest report from CBO showed how Trump's signature tax and spending law could put new pressure on federal programs that are bedrocks of the American social safety net. Trump and Republicans pledged not to cut Medicare as part of the legislation, but the estimated $3.4 trillion that the law adds to the federal deficit over the next decade means that many Medicare programs could still see cuts. In the past, Congress has always acted to mitigate cuts to Medicare and other programs, but it would take some bipartisan cooperation to do so. Democrats, who requested the analysis from CBO, jumped on the potential cuts. 'Republicans knew their tax breaks for billionaires would force over half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts — and they did it anyway,' said Rep. Brendan F. Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, in a statement. 'American families simply cannot afford Donald Trump's attacks on Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare.' Hospitals in rural parts of the country are already grappling with cuts to Medicaid, which is available to people with low incomes, and cuts to Medicare could exacerbate their shortfalls. As Republicans muscled the bill through Congress and are now selling it to voters back home, they have been highly critical of how CBO has analyzed the bill. They have also argued that the tax cuts will spur economic growth and pointed to $50 billion in funding for rural hospitals that was included in the package.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Dream of home ownership under threat as costs jump far past median incomes
For generations, buying a home was the surest ticket to middle-class security — a way to build wealth, plant roots, and pass something down to the next generation. Today, that promise is under siege. In 2024, the annual income needed to cover monthly payments on a median-priced home jumped to a whopping $126,670, data from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies showed — 60% up from just three years earlier. Advertisement 4 Median incomes have not kept pace with the average cost of homeownership. ungvar – Over the same time span, US median household income rose only 1.3% — to $80,610. 'There's no rush to be a homeowner given that differential,' Laurie Goodman, founder of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, told Bloomberg. Advertisement And the stunning financial gap is just one of many issues, tilting the math of buying against households across the country. Limited construction since the 2008 financial crisis, combined with homeowners holding on to low-rate mortgages, has kept supply thin. Labor shortages are making building more expensive, while property taxes climb and billion-dollar natural disasters erode equity. From 2019 through 2024, property tax bills jumped nearly 50% in Florida, 33% in Dallas, and 32% in Clark County, Nev., which includes Las Vegas, according to data from Cotality. Advertisement 4 Soaring housing costs, stagnant wages, scarce inventory, and rising climate risks are shutting more Americans out of homeownership, reshaping what was once a cornerstone of middle-class stability. Christopher Sadowski Building new often costs more than buying an existing home, and labor shortages have slowed construction further. Crunch the numbers, and the consequences are clear. The median age of first-time homebuyers climbed to 38 last year from 28 in 1991, the National Association of Realtors reported. Advertisement 4 The barriers hit first-time and younger buyers hardest, with the median age of entry now 38 and the share of first-time buyers at record lows. – The share of first-time buyers fell to 24%, the lowest since record-keeping began in 1981. The plummeting figures come as buyers can no longer count on mortgage payments being lower than rent in many markets. As recently as 2021, owning was still as affordable as renting in 21 major markets. Now the, reverse is true in 49 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas, with renting on average $908 a month cheaper, data showed. 4 Factors driving the crunch include a decade-plus construction shortfall, homeowners clinging to low-rate mortgages, expensive building materials and labor shortages. Christopher Sadowski Pittsburgh is the lone exception. Some states and cities are attempting fixes. Utah recently earmarked $300 million for low-interest loans aimed at moderate-income buyers, while Rhode Island offers gap financing to spur development of affordable owner-occupied homes. Advertisement Minneapolis has partnered with nonprofits on lease-to-buy programs. Yet for many, the costs and risks of ownership outweigh the benefits. Some homeowners are even choosing to sell and rent, despite small mortgages. 'I think they overvalue staying in a home,' Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for Redfin said. 'Homes are expensive.'
