Last week, the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development and Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) hosted a hearing entitled “Closing the Skills Gap: Private sector solutions for America’s Workforce.” The hearing provided insights into how some employers are addressing the shortage of six million workers and some of the reasons employers cannot find highly skilled workers to fill the available job openings.
Throughout the hearing, key aspects of two Committee bills, H.R. 2353 – The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act and H.R. 4508 – The Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform Act, were highlighted as ways to help combat the skills gap. Specific provisions discussed included expanded student access to and participation in industry-led earn-and-learn programs and apprenticeships, and partnerships between business and institutions of higher education.
Later this week, Full Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) will host the first of two upcoming hearings devoted to other areas of interest to higher education.
Today, May 17th, the Committee will further its discussions on data security and personally identifiable student information during a hearing entitled, “Protecting Privacy, Promoting Data Security: Exploring How Schools and States Keep Safe.” Then, next Tuesday, May 22nd, the Committee will host Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos at a hearing entitled “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department of Education.”
AACS will be monitoring and reporting on both of these important hearings over the next week sharing our key takeaways from the discussions. For those of you who would like to watch the hearings in real time, you can always go to the Committee’s website, click on hearings, and click on the appropriate hearing for either the live webcast or archived videos of the hearings after the fact.