“We need a higher education system that is responsive to the job market,” Spellings said.
“The likelihood is that in the 21st century not only are a very large number of college graduates going to have had interruptions in their pursuit but they are going to attend multiple institutions,” Lomax said.
The debate, recorded in front of a live audience at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., was sponsored by the Miller Center, PBS, and the Lumina Foundation.
In addition to the economic arguments for maintaining an educated work force, Jamie P. Merisotis, Lumina president and chief executive officer, sees other benefits of producing more college graduates in the U.S.
“People with college degrees are not only good workers and productive participants in our democracy, but they are effective citizens,” Merisotis said. “The idea of being best in the world, being ‘world class’ I think is a benchmark, but the main reason shouldn’t be the competitive reason. The main reason should be to advance our own well-being and our own collective future."
The debate will air on PBS stations across the country beginning mid-March.
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