Skilled technical workers are needed to make any country highly competitive and more productive globally. However, there are reports that the supply of skilled technical workers does not adequately meet the current and future demand in the US labor market, and this is expected to continue if...

I generalize the canonical model--in which relative supply and demand for worker skills shape the skill premium--incorporating monopsony power, minimum wages, and unemployment. I estimate the extended canonical model using national data and, separately, state-level data. I show that...

Part I. The evolution of job readiness and credentialing in the United States. The college degree : false panacea or freighted promise? -- The arc to the "golden age" ... and emerging decline -- Part II. Innovation and the rise of competitive higher education alternatives. Competitive models :...