ABINGTON, Pa. — Penn State Abington, in partnership with the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, welcomed an audience from across the region to address the question "How Do We Fix Higher Education? Preparing Future Generations for Success."
The panelists included Marcella Bombardieri, associate director of postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress; Diane Harris, editor at large for Newsweek; and Jonathan Turk, associate director of research at the American Council on Education. Craig Snyder, president and chief executive officer of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, served as the moderator.
The discussion threaded through multiple topics including government funding for higher education, traditional and nontraditional students, myths about college debt, and proposals for a “free” college education and debt forgiveness.
Turk, whose comments were peppered with supporting statistics, explained that there is a new reality.
"We don’t live in a world where you go to school at 18, graduate at 22, and never have to learn anything new again for the rest of your life,” he said. “We live in a world that requires adaptation. Higher education is a place to achieve those skills.”
Bombardieri revealed that 99% of jobs created since the Great Recession require at least some college education.
Turk and the other panelists also challenged the idea that the liberal arts are out of touch with necessary workforce skills.
“People with philosophy degrees go on to become lawyers and doctors and work in other important professions,” Turk said.
Harris reminded the audience that higher education prepares students for critical thinking, which is extremely desirable to employers.
“We do need more and better vocational training, but not at the expense of academic institutions. We need both,” she said.