The Indy Outlook: More higher ed data and more misplaced budget priorities

Without reliable data for decision making, both the Legislature and Board of Regents face a difficult task in allocating the higher education budget to address future labor requirements tied to Nevada’s economic growth and to tackle long-term unemployment. Historically, limited data has posed a frustrating decision-making environment for public officials.

As discussed here previously and in recent testimony on long-term unemployment and the path from education to employment presented to the Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee (Irene Bustamante Adams, chair), higher education priorities need to be changed. With Nevada’s largest training needs related to “middle skill jobs” (47 percent of the total in-demand jobs) associated with community colleges and technical training, there is a needed realignment in higher education priorities.

Pursuing this topic further, the second largest need for in-demand jobs in Nevada is that associated with four-year undergraduate degrees (34 percent of the total). Unfortunately, results in a research study from the Brookings Institution (Washington, D.C.) by Jonathan Rothwell strongly suggest that the Legislature and Board of Regents demand (not ask) the higher education bureaucracy to both focus on and reform four-year undergraduate education rather than focus (my view) on graduate programs for the rhetoric of top tier, world class, etc.

In a complex study, the Brookings Institution attempted to assess the extent to which degrees added earnings potential to undergraduates by institution. Basically, what is the value-added of the four-year institution compared to expected earnings? Each institution is given a relative score based upon (median) earnings data with 100 the top score. Having obtained data utilized in the Brookings research study, the separate document on research methodology, and both the original Brookings report and the updated Brookings report, the analysis is well documented. All research is based, of course, upon limited data but the results are potentially disturbing for the time frame of the specific class studied in the Brookings research.

Based upon my work in economic development for Nevada, it is generally recognized that California and Utah are two states we compete with for high-quality jobs. As an example of the study results, the chart below presents several research scores from the Brookings study for Utah with UNLV and UNR added to the list for comparison.

These results should raise serious questions for both the Legislature and the Board of Regents. The relative score for UNLV seems disappointingly low. The Legislature and Board of Regents need to realize that, as a general statement, senior administration on a campus (such as the president through the provost and deans) not only set priorities but, possibly more importantly, the tone for what is valued.

Having worked on economic development in the South related to automotive manufacturing and assembly, it is natural for me to refer to results for those states. Like Nevada, these states have a significant percentage of undergraduates as first-time enrollees from their families. For example, Alabama has attempted to provide a different trajectory for its economy through becoming a major automotive assembly center (Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz). This requires, of course, linking educational programs to industry needs. Given our society’s cultural attraction to top ten lists, the chart below shows the top ten schools in Alabama with UNR and UNLV added for comparison. There is no need to comment.

Respectfully, the Legislature and Board of Regents need to take charge of higher education reform if Nevada is to successfully develop its future economy and workforce.

This op-ed is one of three on the Nevada economy published on Monday, April 10, 2017. The columns are Part Three of a series we’re calling THE INDY OUTLOOK.

This column’s author, Dr. Alan Schlottmann, Ph.D., is a Professor of Economics at UNLV’s Lee Business School.