Progressive Political Topics: An improved model on the transition from higher education to the workforce

Part I – The problem:

Tulane University was founded in the 1830s and has remained in New Orleans for almost 200 years. When you visit Tulane University’s website and click on their history and traditions page the first thing you will read is “New Orleans = Tulane.” To say that Tulane students love New Orleans would be an understatement. But when you really look at it, how much does Tulane actually equal New Orleans? 

Tulane University can boast about having very high location diversity. This means that among its students about 84% come from out of state. Many of the in-state students come from Baton Rouge, Shreveport or other areas outside of New Orleans. Outside of Louisiana, the next top 5 states where students come from are: New York (13.8%), California (11.1%), New Jersey (8%), Illinois (7.7%), and Massachusetts (7.3). Tulane ranks 42 out of all United States universities with a very low acceptance rate of 11.1% as of 2020, so it is no surprise that many students want to travel down south to join the Green Wave. New Orleans’ style and unique atmosphere are a large selling point for Tulane admissions. 

New Orleans is known for its fantastic parties, European feel, delicious food, and lively residents. It is easy to see how New Orleans’ economy is dominated by 4 major sectors: Oil and gas, ship boat building and related activities, aerospace manufacturing, and tourism. 3 of those sectors are very specific, but tourism is what drives and separates this city from many others around the US. In 2018, New Orleans saw 18.51 million tourists while the city only has about 400 thousand permanent residents. There are more than 135 annual festivals and over 1,200 restaurants. Tourism, along with the other 3 major sectors, keep the city afloat, but Tulane majors largely have nothing to do with any of them. Tulane has 5 schools associated with undergraduate students: architecture, business, liberal arts, public health, and science and engineering. The 5 most common jobs that come out of Tulane based on degrees are physicians first followed by: lawyers/judicial workers, other managers, postsecondary teachers, and elementary/middle school teachers. The most popular majors include general finance, business administration, marketing, neuroscience, psychology, and communications. In 2019, these 6 majors accounted for over 35% of the student population and, for the most part, they all have nothing to do with New Orleans’ four major economic sectors.

New Orleans tourists. (Photo by: Kendall Hoopes. Pexels)

 For a majority of the majors that fall into these schools, students would need to look to other cities for job opportunities that support a wider range of industries. Students typically travel to large tech or business focused cities like New York City, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. Due to the health or business-related degrees being earned, a majority of the students, originally from out of town, will leave New Orleans after graduating because their fields are not well supported.

Outside of the four major sectors, New Orleans has a strong nonprofit identity. There are 7,726 nonprofit organizations that range from hospitals and schools to religious organizations. In New Orleans, there is 1 nonprofit for roughly every 51 people. Compared to New York City, which has 1 nonprofit for every 180 people, it is clear to see how much the nonprofit sector is valued. Tulane University makes little effort to support students who want to enter the nonprofit workforce. Their website shows the requirements for a graduate level certificate for nonprofits and philanthropy management. To obtain the certificate one would need to take 4 of the 5 courses available. Not only are there very few options, but the only way to take these courses would be to already have a bachelor’s degree and apply to and be accepted into the program. Tulane makes it impossible for an undergraduate student who simply wants to learn more about nonprofits to do so.          

The cycle of students coming to New Orleans to earn a degree simply to leave the area and move back to where they are from, does not serve to benefit the community of New Orleans. It becomes a problem when looking at how impoverished the city has been for much of its existence. According to census data released in 2018 New Orleans leads the nation for the highest poverty rate among the 50 largest US metro areas. 21% of New Orleans families live under the poverty line most of whom are African American. 30% of African American families live in poverty compared to about 8% of all white families.  

Part II – The Solution:

Data shows that 75% of US students are not proficient in math by grade 12 and only 10% of 8th graders show advanced skills in sciences on the international TIMSS exam. When compared to countries in Asia, or other first world countries, US students severely fall behind in the math and science department time and time again. To improve in this area of education, states have implemented science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) specific schools into the public school system. It is estimated that there are more than 220 public STEM high schools in the US. More recently, a further specified group of high schools has emerged called Inclusive STEM high schools (ISHS) which aims to bring in mainly people of color and women into the STEM field at a young age. While the concept of inclusive STEM high schools is still being introduced and worked out, their mission is two fold: to accept “interested students without applying admissions test score or other academic achievement criteria,” and to provide “a secondary education program sufficient to prepare all of their students for a STEM major in college” (Means et al. 2021). 

In a journal for STEM education, researchers ran studies that included up to 7000 regular high school students and over 3000 ISHS students. They compared the two groups and studied the impacts a STEM high school education can have specifically on diverse groups. The study found that significantly more ISHS students participated in STEM-related extracurricular activities such as visiting a science museum. ISHS students compared to regular public high schools reported that STEM subjects were their most favorite by a large margin. Additionally, STEM career interests for ISHS students were 33% higher than comparison schools. These STEM schools give direction to students that would otherwise either not have any or not be given the opportunities to learn about STEM fields. 

Microscope used for learning in STEM schools. (Photo by: Pixabay. Pexels)

The introduction of STEM related high schools across the country is growing and it has been proven to work! At the very least, these high schools accept interested students and continue to further their education in a way that a much higher percentage of STEM high schoolers show a drive to work in STEM-related career fields. Additionally, these students have higher aspirations with about 30% more wanting to achieve some sort of master’s or higher degree when compared to regular high schools. The STEM highschool system has proven that by specializing in certain career fields, more students would only go to college when they know what they want to do and the city would benefit by having a more constant supply of college graduates ready to join their workforce.   

In Europe, it is tough to find many outstanding liberal arts colleges. In contrast, the US has over 220 liberal arts programs to choose from. This is because much of the higher education systems which have been in place in Europe consist of more specialized degree programs. Students who want to go to European universities often must apply and be accepted into the specified program. Therefore these students mostly want and know what they are signing up for. Implementing a European model for institutions of higher education in the US could drastically help with the problem at hand. 

Although a STEM high school education can provide a terrific avenue for the future of a student, there are limits to what it can do. Few teachers are qualified to teach an intense STEM education that brings out the best in a student. The demand for STEM teachers will increase as more schools follow a science heavy model. Similarly, this will also be a limitation for universities. If the change is made to a more post graduation, work focused model, the amount of professors who are willing and able to provide such an education might not meet the demand by students. Additionally, having a complete overhaul of the higher education system will come with some delays and averse voices. Unlike European colleges, US institutions make billions in tuition. The cost of attending Tulane is $60,814 per year which is about $20,000 more expensive than the national average tuition cost. Supporters of the education model that is currently being deployed will most likely be against a work focused model as it would make the institutions less money. 

Part III – The Implementation:

In order to solve the cycle of college students who move to a city to earn a degree then move elsewhere, universities can adopt the STEM style approach. To be more specific, universities should change curriculums and majors that match up with the city’s economies where they are located. Then the school should accept students who are interested in working in those specific industries so that the university can further the student’s education while preparing them to find careers in the same city. Tulane, for example, would recruit students who want to manage tourist companies, run restaurants, organize music festivals, or become a ship or aerospace engineer. While the student attends the school, internship and co-op opportunities can be made with existing companies to further the student’s education in the field as well as to help the student make connections. If someone wants to work in the technology industry or become a computer engineer, applying to colleges in San Francisco or the silicon valley area would be where they looked. If someone wants to become a consultant or financial analyst they would look for schools in New York City or the northeast.

Tulane has the power to change how universities are used and how much more beneficial they can be to a city. Tulane, along with New Orleans, can set a precedent for the rest of the country to follow. First, Tulane needs to implement core majors that are focused on the industries related to New Orleans. One major would be all about building ships. Physics, engineering, math, and ocean environment classes would all be required to obtain a degree. While the student studies, there can be arranged internship opportunities with the New Orleans port so that the student has a first person look into how ships are engineered. The relationship between the university and the city would also be strengthened as a byproduct. Tulane must implement undergraduate level courses related to topics in the nonprofit sector. Leadership and management classes in this field can be created so students have a chance to learn about nonprofits and their importance. In this system, pre-med or pre-law students would need to take nonprofit related courses as there are many hospitals and law firms that are not for profit. Administering nonprofit majors at Tulane can lead to an easy transition into the New Orleans workforce considering how many organizations there are in the city. After these specific majors and curricula are created, Tulane admissions would need to emphasize how important showing interest in a specific New Orleans sector is to being accepted into the University. The student will have to apply to a certain school and be accepted into that program for the whole process to work. A four year education focused around one industry will hopefully not only fully prepare a student but also eliminate the need to earn a master’s degree. The idea is that earning an undergraduate degree from Tulane University sets up a student to join the workforce specific to New Orleans in order to drive its economy. 

Work cited: 

Means, Barbara, et al. “Impacts of Attending an Inclusive STEM High School: Meta-Analytic Estimates from Five Studies.” International Journal of STEM Education, vol. 8, no. 1, 19 Jan. 2021, doi:10.1186/s40594-020-00260-1.