Improving Employment Outcomes for Disadvantaged Students

Improving the skills and earnings potential of poor youth and adults should remain a top priority for state and federal policymakers. To improve earnings prospects for recent graduates and to encourage two- and four-year colleges to be responsive to labor market demand, the author proposes that state legislatures implement financial incentives for colleges to steer students toward high-wage occupations and to industries with especially high labor needs. In addition, while this proposal primarily calls for state-level reforms, he also notes opportunities for the federal government to support states in this initiative.