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

Pfeiffer Ranks on List for Local Political Influence (Daily Targum)

By Daniel Ovadia Dec. 9, 2025, 8:04 p.m. Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow and associate director of Bloustein Local — a unit of Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy's Center for Urban Policy Development — was recently ranked on the Insider 100...

NJSPL Report: Investor Acquisition of Residential Properties

Report Release: Trends in Investor Acquisition of Residential Properties in New Jersey Read Report Corporate ownership of single-family homes and other small residential properties has drawn growing concern from housing advocates and policymakers in New Jersey and...

Dean Shapiro: Another Blow to Regulatory Benefit-Cost Analysis

By Dean Stuart Shapiro The Trump Administration’s weakening of regulatory benefit-cost analysis vests unequal power in executive review. In late October, the acting administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) issued a memo attempting to...

Ceu Cirne-Neves, MPA, FACHE Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

The Bloustein School is proud to share that Professor Céu Cirne-Neves, MPA, FACHE has been honored with the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Healthcare Executives New Jersey Chapter (ACHE-NJ). The award was presented at the chapter’s...