Education Outcomes and Funding in the 21st Century

October 18, 2024

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has released a new article analyzing wage disparities between workers with and without college degrees and the rising costs of higher education. The article traces tuition increases over the past two decades and how grant aid and student loan reliance have changed because of the tuition increases. It also highlights the ways historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges and universities are underfunded. The article aims to inform workforce practitioners and policymakers on improving economic mobility.

The article was written by Carl Van Horn, Ph.D., Director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development and Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at the Bloustein School; Nyerere Hodge, Senior Research Analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; and Stuart Andreason, Executive Director of Programs at the Burning Glass Institute and a member of the Heldrich Center’s National Advisory Board.

The article is the final part of a three-part series. The other articles in the series are:

Key Trends and Transformations in the 21st Century Labor Market

The Evolution of Key Worker Support Systems in the 21st Century

Recent Posts

2026 NJDOT Complete Streets Summit Recap

On Tuesday, April 21, 2026, the NJDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center hosted the eighth New Jersey Complete Streets Summit. This year’s event, centered on the theme “Every Journey Safer,” was a resounding success, bringing together more than 250 planners,...

The fastest way to ease the housing crisis? Rent control

Op-ed by Tram Hoang, a senior associate at PolicyLink, a national research and action institute and Mark Paul, associate professor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Massachusetts is losing its working families. Not just to...

Kopp and Climate Scholars Assess Atlantic Coast Seasonal Flood Drivers

Seasonal Drivers of Storm Tides and Coastal Flood Impacts Along the US Atlantic Coast Abstract Due to sea‐level rise, densely populated coastal areas are facing increasing flood risk during coastal storms. Much of the US East Coast experiences extratropical cyclones...