A recent report indicates California is continuing along a path that has been escalating for a decade that shows that while the state’s need for college-educated workers is increasing rapidly, the state’s ability to graduate students at the same if not higher rate is lagging.

The Public Policy Institute of California published an article in their May edition titled, “Can California Import Enough College Graduates to Meet Workforce Needs?” According to the article, California will need to attract college graduates in unprecedented numbers in order to meet the projected economic demand of the state. Many of these individuals will have to come from either out of state or out of country to fill this void.

Unfortunately, the article suggests that throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s that California attracted relatively few college-educated migrants from other states. This could be attributed to California’s high cost of living and housing which makes the state less accessible to residents of other states.

Therefore, the article suggests that California will need to turn to attracting workers from other countries and that between the years 2000-2005, immigrants to California with college degrees exceeded the number of immigrants who were not high school graduates.

The article suggests that the only solution to this trend is to increase college participation and graduation among California residents and in order to do this that public policy in California has an important role to play in accommodating and encouraging the increase in enrollment.

The CSU is continuing to do its part and work towards meeting these goals. Just this year, the CSU graduated 90,000 students who will be entering the workforce as well as over-enrolled 6,300 students for the upcoming fall semester. Unfortunately in order to accommodate this increased need and demand to enroll students without state budget support, campuses are being stretched to find creative ways to fund students that doesn’t directly impact students’ services and education.

For a copy of the full article, visit the Public Policy Institute of California website.