Amy McKenna

In a Time of Economic Uncertainty

Massachusetts, the state where my employer's institution is located has long been considered one of "intellectual capital". Focus on education has been at the forefront of legislation and a springboard for the advancement of job equality and opportunity for the better part of the last two decades. The theory rests upon the idea that the more money that is allocated to higher education, along side with legislation designed to afford every citizen, including illegal immigrants, the opportunity to a higher education will help to develop a larger, more diverse workforce and create a higher demand for qualified applicants to fill and create new jobs. Not only in Massachussetts, but the entire country has been burdened by a stifling unemployment rate which has singlehandedly created a mindset that education does not matter because people with Master's degrees are competing with high school graduates for similar jobs just to be able to support their families. Conversely, uneducated people continue to exhaust the public assistance system due to this high level of competition, creating the stalemate of continued,staggering unemployment statistics. That being said, a program like this which is designed to educate and advance the knowledge and capability of admissions employees to recruit new "intellectual capital" and emphasize the benefits of a higher education can certainly serve well for not only the students but employers, employees and society as a whole.