On Wednesday evening, Dr. Nasser H. Paydar, president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and former assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the U.S. Department of Education, shared his thoughts on the current state of higher education in the U.S. and the role accreditation plays.
Dr. Nasser Paydar
Addressing an audience at Baruch College in New York City and more than 40 people joining online, Paydar opened the discussion saying that by the year 2031, 71% of jobs in the U.S. will require some college.
“We will need about 171 million people in the country working, and most of them must have higher education and skills,” he said.
“When I say higher education, I don’t mean baccalaureate degrees or doctorate degrees,” he added. “Some kind of skills, an associate degree or a year program. That is the need.”
Despite an increase in degree attainment, large gaps persist for Black, Hispanic and low-income individuals. While 48% of white individuals had an associate degree or higher as of 2021, the percentage for Black individuals was 34% and 27% for Hispanics.
The issues do not exist due to lack of availability of higher education. There are more than 6,000 colleges and universities in the U.S., and 90% of students attend schools that are not major research institutions.
“Our strength is diversity,” Paydar said. “Diversity is always the strength of a community.” But an examination of degree attainment related to income level shows those in the lowest quartile, which includes many people of color, have the lowest degree attainment.
