Post-Secondary Education

The New York legislature passed a bill enacting the Excelsior Scholarship on April 7^th. The program, designed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, provides tuition-free college at New York public universities to families making up to $125,000 a year. Although other states offer free community college, New York is the first state to fully subsidize tuition at both two and four-year universities.

The North Carolina Senate unanimously passed SB-8 on March 15^th which eases occupational licensure burdens on veterans by allowing military members and their spouses to practice their profession with a license from another state while transitioning to the requirements of North Carolina. The bill, sponsored by Senators Andy Wells, Harry Brown, and Louis Pate, is a positive step towards helping military families working jobs that may require a license.

Maryland Delegate Cory McCray is currently sponsoring a bill moving through the House of Delegates entitled the POWER (Providing Our Workers with Education and Readiness) Apprenticeship Act (House Bill 467). As a graduate of a 5-year apprenticeship program, McCray has been a long-standing advocate for state expansion of apprenticeship legislation.

Looking at the President’s 2018 Budget, we are able to see the Administration’s priorities in education. Note the newly proposed funding for school choice and charter schools and the elimination or reduction of funding for several other education programs and initiatives.

The President’s 2018 Budget provides $59 billion in discretionary funding for the U.S. Department of Education, a $9 billion or 13 percent reduction below the 2017 annualized continuing resolution (CR) level.

The labor force participation rate of teens between 16 and 19 has declined substantially over the past thirty years. The average teen labor force participation rate across the states was 37.1 percent in 2015, compared to 56.8% in 1981. A recent BLS study analyzed the factors contributing to the decline in teens working.

Two years ago, Gov. Terry Branstad announced that he wants 70 percent of Iowa’s workforce to have education or training beyond high school by 2025. Since then, he and state legislators have taken a series of steps to meet that goal.