Not as many as people think, argues Paul Barton in the latest issue of Change Magazine.
Here is a passage from the article:
The absolute demand for college graduates is also overstated when whatever percentage of the workforce that has gone to college is equated with the percentage of jobs that require college-level learning ? or when the assumption is made that the knowledge gained in college is required to perform that job. For example, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), in a committee hearing in March 2007, said that when he graduated from school, just 15 percent of jobs needed some postsecondary training, but ?today the number is over 60 percent and rising rapidly.? But while over 60 percent of people in existing jobs have ?some college? or a postsecondary credential, according to the BLS only about 3 in 10 jobs require a postsecondary certification of some sort.
For additional information, see George Leef’s paper on the overselling of higher education.
Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs
