CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

DC Digest: October 18-24

This week in Washington, both the House and Senate returned to focus on hearings and pending nominations. Both chambers will remain in session during the week of October 24 as congressional leaders hope to finalize negotiations on the budget reconciliation package. Congressional leaders are working to pare down parts of the budget reconciliation package in order to bring it closer to an overall spending amount that can gain enough votes in both the House and Senate to pass. Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which funds education and workforce development programs, including Perkins. More details are provided below. With all of the funding-related activity happening in Congress right now, it is not too late to continue advocacy efforts and urge federal policymakers to prioritize critical investments in CTE – you can find more information about ACTE’s advocacy efforts here. As we await further action by Congress, here is the most important news from Washington this week: 

 

• Senate Releases FY 2022 Appropriations Bill Text: With significant attention on the budget reconciliation process, the FY 2022 appropriations bills have been on the backburner. However, with the current continuing resolution (CR) expiring on December 3, significant congressional action is needed to wrap up this work. To begin to move things forward, on October 18, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which funds education and workforce development programs, including Perkins. In the Senate bill, the Perkins Basic State Grant received a $50 million increase over the FY 2021 level and $30 million over what President Biden recommended in his budget proposal in May. This total funding level, $1.38 billion, is identical to the House of Representatives’ bill that was released in July, providing a solid foundation for a potential increase for the Perkins Basic State Grant in the final appropriations bill. Learn more about the bill here. 

 

• Sen. Tim Kaine and Sen. Amy Klobuchar Send Letter to Congressional Leadership on Workforce Funding: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), a Senate CTE Caucus co-chair and member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led 14 additional senators in a letter to President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) urging them to invest in workforce training in the Build Back Better Act. Read more, including a copy of the letter, here. 

 

• ACTE and Advance Send Letter on Workforce and Perkins Funding to Congressional Leaders: With negotiations on the budget reconciliation bill continuing, ACTE joined with our partners at Advance CTE to make one more push to maintain CTE funding. On October 21, we sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to protect critical CTE and workforce development investments in the final bill. You can read the letter here. 

  

• Senate Confirms Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights: On October 20, the U.S. Senate confirmed Catherine Lhamon as Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. Lhamon, who previously held the position during the Obama Administration, will work to combat discrimination on the basis of race, sex, and disability and to protect students’ civil rights in education. In other nomination news, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee announced a committee vote on Dr. Amy Loyd's nomination as the Assistant Secretary of OCTAE on October 26.  

 

• Department of Education Releases Resource on Student Mental Health: The Department of Education has released a new resource, Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Health, to provide information and resources to enhance the promotion of mental health and social and emotional well-being among children and students. This resource highlights seven key challenges to providing school- or program-based mental health support across early childhood, K–12 schools, and higher education settings, and presents seven corresponding recommendations.

CTE Advocates Take Action During Budget Reconciliation on Twitter

On October 12, ACTE launched a social media campaign to urge Members of Congress to maintain the robust funding levels provided in the budget reconciliation bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, for CTE and other workforce development programs as the final negotiations on that bill continue! 

 

As of October 22, 77 Tweets have been sent through ACTE’s Action Center, which facilitates delivery of emails and Tweets to Members of Congress. For those without Twitter accounts, advocates were encouraged to send a letter supporting the funding levels through the Action Center – so far, 335 letters have been sent to Capitol Hill.  

 

ACTE members contacted senators and representatives from California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Virginia on Twitter. Here is a sampling of the Tweets ACTE members sent to make their voices heard: 

 

 

 

 

To read more Tweets from the campaign, visit the #careerteched hashtag on Twitter! It is also not too late to participate in the campaign! It is important to continue advocacy efforts to help keep CTE top of mind for policymakers as they make key funding decisions and urge federal policymakers to prioritize critical investments in CTE. Please visit the Action Center to send a Tweet or letter to your federal policymakers today! 

Senate Releases FY 2022 Appropriations Bill Text

With significant attention on the budget reconciliation process, the FY 2022 appropriations bills have been on the back-burner. However, with the current continuing resolution (CR) expiring on December 3, significant congressional action is needed to wrap up this work. To begin to move things forward, on October 18, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, which funds education and workforce development programs, including Perkins. In the Senate bill, the Perkins Basic State Grant received a $50 million increase over the FY 2021 level and $30 million over what President Biden recommended in his budget proposal in May. This total funding level, $1.38 billion, is identical to the House of Representatives’ bill that was released in July, providing a solid foundation for a potential increase for the Perkins Basic State Grant in the final appropriations bill.

With the Perkins National Programs line item, the Senate bill fell short of the House bill’s $100 million competitive grant program to carry out evidence-based middle and high school career and technical education innovation programs, instead allocating just $25 million total for Perkins National Programs, including this competitive grant. That said, on a positive note, the Senate bill did not include the House’s language amending Perkins V making apprenticeship programs eligible for Basic State Grant funds. The discrepancies between the two bills will need to be hashed out between the House and the Senate over the coming weeks.

Overall, the bill allocates $98.4 billion to the Department of Education, an increase of about $25 billion over FY 2021 (although about $4.4 billion lower than the House bill and the President’s request). This would represent a historic investment in education overall, with large programs such as Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), and Pell grants seeing considerable increases in funding. The Department of Labor would receive $13.8 billion under the Senate bill, which is a $1.3 billion increase over FY 2021.

Additional funding levels of programs relevant to the CTE community include:

• Federal Work Study – $1.23 billion, a $40 million increase over FY 2021
• ESEA Title II – Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants – $2.2 billion, a $50 million increase over FY 2021
• ESEA Title IV-A – Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants – $1.3 billion, a $100 million increase over FY 2021
• Registered Apprenticeships – $245 million, an increase of $60 million over FY 2021
• Workforce Innovation and Opportunity (WIOA) State Grants – $2.9 billion, an increase of $93 million over FY 2021
• Adult education – $723 million, a $34 million increase over FY 2021
• National Youth Employment Program – a new program that would receive $25 million

Moving forward, the House and Senate will likely begin negotiating on a final bill that must be passed by December 3, unless Congress passes another CR on or before that date. It is not expected that the Senate will hold committee markups or entertain any amendments to its version prior to these bicameral negotiations. There is much to come over the next 6 to 8 weeks, so please stay tuned for more information and further opportunities to take action in support of CTE priorities!

DC Digest: October 11-17

This week in Washington, both the House and Senate were out of session for most of the week, but are scheduled to return the week of October 18. The most significant development during the week was that the House passed and President Biden signed into law an increase in the debt limit that will stabilize the country's financial systems and avoid a federal default until early December. A longer-term solution must now be found over the next few weeks.  In addition, congressional leaders are still negotiating on the budget reconciliation package, although there still has not been significant movement on the bill publicly. At this stage of the process, it is important to continue advocacy efforts and urge federal policymakers to prioritize critical investments in CTE – more details are provided below. As we await further action by Congress, here is the most important news from Washington this week: 

 

• ACTE Launches Budget Reconciliation Social Media Campaign: ACTE is calling on Congress to maintain the robust funding levels provided in the Build Back Better Act for CTE and other workforce development programs as the negotiations continue! As CTE stakeholders, it has never been more important to engage in the #careerteched conversation on Twitter to meet Members of Congress where they are and urge them to prioritize critical investments in CTE. We need your help to keep CTE programs top of mind for Members of Congress as they make key funding decisions affecting CTE! If you have a Twitter account, CLICK HERE to send a Tweet urging Members of Congress to support CTE funding in the Build Back Better Act. You can read more about the campaign here. 

 

• House Members Send Letter to Congressional Leadership on Workforce Funding: Over 30 House members sent a letter to congressional leaders on October 13 urging them to provide no less than the nearly $80 billion in workforce development funding that was included in the House Education and Labor Committee’s portion of the Build Back Better Act.  

 

• Advance CTE Announces Request for Proposals: Advance CTE is launching an effort to provide a cohort of 4-5 states with 10 months of intensive technical assistance to advance the principle(s) and actions within CTE Without Limits that are most critical to strengthening their career preparation ecosystems and providing each learner with the greatest opportunities to reach their full potential. An optional virtual office hour will be held on October 22 from 3:00-4:00 pm ET or November 3 at 3:00-4:00pm ET for an overview of the application and to ask any questions pertaining to the application and selection process. RSVP to Kate Kreamer at kkreamer@careertech.org to receive meeting information. You can learn more about this opportunity and how to apply here

  

• Department of Education Approves Additional ARP-ESSER Funds: The Department of Education announced that it has approved ARP-ESSER plans for Guam, Maryland, Nebraska and Virginia. ARP-ESSER funds are used to support schools and students as they reopen for in-person learning, and to help sustain the safe operation of schools. 

 

• Department of Labor Announces Return to In-Person Job Corps Instruction: The Department of Labor announced that Job Corps centers will reopen new student enrollment for in-person instruction and job training at Job Corps centers across the nation.

Research Roundup: Community College Enrollment

Supporting Working-age Adults: Although community colleges nationwide are experiencing historic enrollment declines due to COVID-19, interest in these institutions among working-age learners remains strong. Through large-scale surveys and interviews with adult learners, a report by Strada Education Network documents 20.5 million working-age adults that intend to enroll in a community or technical college within the next two years. The following are challenges that working-age learners who intend to go to college face and recommendations community colleges can implement to help these learners succeed:

• Guidance and coaching: About 58% of these prospective students would be first-generation students and almost half worry they won’t succeed in college. Some effective ways to increase confidence and access to information among these learners are implementing career coaching programs and mapping curricula to in-demand skills.
• Wraparound supports: Approximately 31% earn an income less than $24,000. These learners can succeed in their academics at higher rates when provided assistance with food, housing, transportation and technology, which has been shown to double completion rates.
• Flexible and affordable education: About 52% of respondents are employed full time and 53% have children. Learners with multiple responsibilities can benefit from acceleration options like prior learning assessments, which can increase the number of graduates by 20 percentage points, and on-the-job learning through apprenticeships, which can nearly triple graduation numbers.
• Equity-based approaches: More than half of respondents are Black or Latino. These learners can be supported by equity-focused practices, such as earlier advising and support with academic and career planning, which have been shown to improve enrollment and completion gaps by race.

Building Back Enrollment: To determine whether community colleges enable students to access high-quality career or transfer opportunities, the Community College Research Center created a data tool that allows users to view which credentials and programs are being completed within each state and college. Using the data tool, CCRC found misalignment in transfer opportunities between associate degree programs and bachelor’s degree programs, specifically for liberal arts and sciences programs, as well as the need for certificate and associate degree programs to improve connections to high-wage job opportunities.

Enrollment Silver Linings: The American Association of Community Colleges has outlined innovative strategies that colleges have used to increase their enrollment in fall 2021. Some colleges are focusing on recruiting high school students through dual enrollment courses. For instance, Northeastern Technical College in South Carolina created a summer program for high school students with mid-range GPAs who were at risk of falling through the cracks. This fall, all 121 participants signed up for dual enrollment courses and, owing to this and other recruitment and retention strategies, the college’s enrollment increased by 34%. Other colleges are addressing barriers to enrollment by offering free tuition for adult learners or providing transportation options. In addition, a few colleges like, Windward Community College in Hawai’i, created short-term certificates for their most popular programs.

Assessing Pandemic Predictions: When the COVID-19 pandemic closed postsecondary institutions across the country in April 2020, researchers predicted declines in enrollment, increases in transfer rates and permanent closures. To determine whether these predictions were fulfilled, the Chronicle of Higher Education published an article using fall 2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education to reveal how institutions actually fared. The following are key findings from the article:

• While overall enrollment did not decline as significantly as predicted, declines in enrollment for first-time, full-time students reached high rates across all institutions. Public two-year institutions faced the steepest declines in first-time, full-time students, at a rate of 16.5%.
• Although closures of postsecondary institutions were predicted, only 15 colleges closed permanently, merged with or were acquired by another institution. Two of these colleges were private two-year institutions and the rest were four-year universities.
• It was predicted that students would start their postsecondary education at community colleges or transfer to them at higher rates than in years past. However, transfer student enrollments at public associate-degree-granting colleges dropped by 19% in fall 2020 from the year prior.

Updated: Financial Services Sector Sheet

This fall, ACTE has updated its Sector Sheet on CTE’s role in developing the workforce for the finance sector with current labor market information, descriptions of how CTE prepares individuals for careers in financial services, and examples of exemplary programs in finance.

The U.S. economy is rapidly evolving and employers in financial services are seeking an adaptable workforce that can respond to industry changes. Employment in business and financial services is predicted to grow faster than average and will add more than 476,000 new jobs by 2029. These occupations can pay well above the national median wage, including jobs that require education below the bachelor’s degree level. For example, insurance sales agents earn more than $52,000 annually, on average, while claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners and investigators make $68,000 – more if they work for the federal government.

CTE programs are at the forefront of preparing individuals for financial services careers. On the secondary level, the Academy of Finance at Como Park Senior High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, offers a rigorous, cohort-based program. The academy, which received Advance CTE’s Excellence in Action Award in 2019, includes extensive work-based learning opportunities such as the on-campus Hiway Federal Credit Union branch. Students can receive up to 16 college credits as well as a business certificate from Saint Paul College. On the postsecondary level, the Applied Finance Institute at Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Nebraska gives students access to high-demand credentials in the field of finance. In 2020, the Applied Finance Institute began offering a financial counseling certificate program, making MCC the first community college in the nation to provide a pathway to becoming an Accredited Financial Counselor®. All programs at the Applied Finance Institute offer opportunities for students to stack credentials or articulate to an Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Administration.

ACTE’s Sector Sheet series is generously supported by Pearson.   

Factors that Impact Lifetime Earnings

A recent report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds that higher educational attainment does not always correlate with higher earnings – industry, geography and other factors play a role, too.

Using survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, researchers explored variations in lifetime earnings based on education level, industry, gender, race and ethnicity, and geographic location. While the report confirms that lifetime earnings typically grow with higher levels of education – compared to a high school diploma, some postsecondary education increases earnings by 19%, an associate degree by 25% and a bachelor’s degree by 75% – there are many exceptions:

• 40% of workers with some postsecondary education earn more than half of all workers with an associate degree.
• 28% of associate degree holders and 23% of workers with some postsecondary education earn more than half of all workers with a bachelor’s degree.

Differences in earnings widen over time and workers with lower education levels, especially those with less than a high school diploma, typically experience lower growth in earnings.

Industry is another factor that influences lifetime earnings. Associate degree holders earn the most in health care practitioner, computer and mathematical, and architecture and engineering occupations. In fact, associate degree holders in computer and mathematical occupations and in health care practitioner occupations have the same median lifetime earnings as all bachelor’s degree holders. Food preparation and serving, personal care and service, and building and grounds cleaning occupations are among the lowest-paying jobs.

Gender, race and ethnicity impact earnings as well. The report finds that women have lower median lifetime earnings than men across all levels of education and require one more degree than men to reach equivalent earnings. Disparities in earnings persist across all racial and ethnic groups. For example, among associate degree holders, white workers earn a median of $2.1 million, compared to $2 million for Asian workers, $1.9 million for Latino workers and $1.7 million for Black workers.

Lastly, researchers found that lifetime earnings vary by state, even when adjusted for the cost of living, in part because of different concentrations of industries and occupations among states. Lifetime earnings for associate degree holders are highest in Alaska, Wyoming, Connecticut, Wyoming, Ohio, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Louisiana.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Members of Congress to Support CTE Funding on Twitter!

Recently, the House Education and Labor Committee approved its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, containing $4 billion for CTE! ACTE is now calling on Congress to maintain the robust funding levels provided in that bill for CTE and other workforce development programs as the budget reconciliation negotiations continue!  

Members of Congress and their communications teams are constantly keeping an eye on Twitter to monitor the biggest conversations that are taking place among their constituents, the media and advocates. As CTE stakeholders, it has never been more important to engage in the #careerteched conversation on Twitter to meet Members of Congress where they are and urge them to prioritize critical investments in CTE. 

At this stage of the reconciliation process, congressional leadership is in the midst of heavy negotiations, so now is the time to act – we need your help to keep CTE programs top of mind for Members of Congress as they make key funding decisions affecting CTE! 

Engaging with your policymakers on social media will take less than five minutes! Sending messages is particularly important if you live in a state or district with Democratic Members of Congress, as they have the most influence over these negotiations! 

ACTION NEEDED: 

If you have a Twitter account, CLICK HERE to send a Tweet urging Members of Congress to support CTE funding in the Build Back Better Act. Below are tips to utilize the Twitter function of ACTE’s Action Alert system:

 

• Input your address, then check or uncheck the blue checkboxes to choose the Tweets you want to send. 
• The Tweets are customizable, so if you want to add your own thoughts to the pre-written Tweet in the text box, you can do so! 
• Next, a window will pop up asking you to authorize the Congress Web application for use on your Twitter account. Authorize the app and press the blue “send” button to complete the process. 

 

Additionally, if you are not active on Twitter and would like to send a letter to your Members of Congress, please click here to send an email through  ACTE’s Action Center! Please connect with them on Twitter or send a letter today!

DC Digest: October 4-10

This week in Washington, the House was in recess while the Senate was in session to focus on nominations and hearings. The Senate passed an increase to the debt ceiling to avert a fiscal crisis, and the House will return to Washington early next week to vote on the debt ceiling increase as well. Congressional leaders are still negotiating on the budget reconciliation package, and little movement on the bill has occurred publicly this week. In the meantime, here is the most important news from Washington this week: 
 

• Department of Education Announces Changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: The Department of Education has announced changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). These changes include: a limited PSLF waiver that allows all payments by student borrowers to count toward PSLF, regardless of loan program or payment plan; automatically providing credit toward PSLF for military service members and federal employees using federal data matches; and reviewing denied PSLF applications for errors and giving borrowers the ability to have their PSLF determinations reconsidered. 
   
• Department of Education Approves Additional ARP-ESSER Funds: The Department of Education has announced that it has approved ARP-ESSER plans for Michigan, Wyoming, Missouri and Arizona. ARP-ESSER funds are used to support schools and students as they reopen for in-person learning, and to help sustain the safe operation of schools. 
   
• Jobs for the Future (JFF) Announces Grant Opportunity: JFF will be awarding $50,000 grants to three organizations across the country that are working to build regional IT career pathways. Workforce development boards, community colleges and other training and education providers, industry associations, intermediaries, and community-based nonprofit organizations may apply for these grants. Organizations across the country are encouraged to apply, especially those in the Miami, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC, metro areas. Applications will be accepted through November 1, 2021, and recipients must complete all grant activities within six months of receiving the award. Please submit any questions regarding the RFP or the application process to Emily Pipes (epipes@jff.org) and notify her of your intent to apply by 5 p.m. PT on October 25, 2021. Click here for more information on how to apply. 
   

• ACTE Joins Over Fifty Education Organizations to Support Internet Access: Fifty-seven education-related organizations sent a letter to congressional leaders on October 7 urging them to continue funding for student devices and broadband access through the budget reconciliation bill. Initial funding for the "Emergency Connectivity Fund" to assist schools was provided in the American Rescue Plan Act earlier this year but is in danger of running out soon.  
   
• Senate Moves Forward on Biden Administration Nominations: Several Department of Education nominations were confirmed this week by the full Senate, including Gwen Graham to be the assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs; Roberto Rodríguez to be the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development; and Elizabeth Merrill Brown as general counsel. In addition, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Jose Javier Rodriguez to be the assistant secretary for employment and training at the Department of Labor.  
   
• Department of Education Launches Negotiated Rulemaking Session: The Department held its first of three expected discussions on proposed regulatory changes, specifically focused on student aid programs including Public Service Loan Forgiveness. You can read more about the topics discussed in this Inside Higher Ed article.

Research Roundup: Improvements and Insights for Workforce Education

Recovery Through Credentials: With over 37 million workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, postsecondary and workforce leaders are enhancing supports for adult learners through education and training. To facilitate these efforts, the Education Strategy Group created a playbook to help state and institutional leaders develop structures to serve adult learners. After completing a self-assessment, leaders can explore strategies, action steps and exemplars in five priority areas:

• Accessibility: Leverage funding to increase adult learner enrollment and persistence, ensure institutional and state aid aligns with adult learners’ needs and conduct comprehensive outreach.
• Program Change: Deliver adult-friendly programs using culturally inclusive classrooms and active learning, create flexible programs, and develop pathways that support all skill levels.
• Operational Change: Centralize student services and develop efficient systems for personalized student advising.
• Data: Strengthen data measurement and collection systems to effectively track the outcomes of adult learners.
• Partnerships: Collaborate with employers and workforce systems to ensure program relevance and create wrap-around supports.

 

Connecting Education to Work: Multiple workforce development entities can result in uncoordinated efforts that may not meet the needs of learners and employers. To help ensure that education and training are connected to good jobs, the Education Commission of the States, with the support of Strada Education Network, created the following principles to assist state policymakers when designing workforce development policies:

• Support adult learners by addressing barriers to education through credit for prior learning, flexible financial aid policies and access to stackable credentials.
• Ensure postsecondary outcomes align with labor market needs by establishing collaboration across state, local and regional stakeholders.
• Improve data systems to generate efficient, transparent and actionable data analysis that is useful for education and workforce leaders as well as learners.
• Align existing and new funding streams to support state workforce goals.

Digital Skills Forecast: As employers across all industries increasingly value digital skills, jobseekers and education and training programs need greater clarity about which tech skills are in high demand. Recently, Emsi Burning Glass and General Assembly developed The Digital Talent Forecast to provide insight into digital skill trends for major industries and occupations. Using skills information from over 13 million job postings, the following outlines their major findings:

• Data analysis is the most relevant skill across all occupations, appearing in 18% of all postings and 60% of postings for business occupations.
• In the manufacturing industry, digital skills are highly valued in a few specific roles. For example, 83% of all semiconductor job posts and 58% of all machining job posts mention at least one digital skill.
• Employers are in search of candidates that combine tech skills with interpersonal skills, like collaboration, and business skills, like project management. For instance, half of all computer occupations mention at least one of these interpersonal or business skills.
• Marketing is rapidly digitizing, with 100% of job postings mentioning at least one digital skill. Similarly, 83% of all retail postings mention at least one digital skill.

Realistic Reskilling: With proposals to reskill the workforce becoming more popular, it’s important to understand whether policies align with the priorities of workers themselves. Recently, Penn Foster published a survey of 1,000 middle-skill workers in jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree. The following findings provide an insight into workers’ opinions on reskilling and challenges they anticipate in a recovering economy:

• Most respondents switching occupations are looking in the field in which they already work, and more than half believe learning new skills on the job is more important than earning a degree or certificate.
• The need for and cost of training are among the most cited barriers keeping workers from looking for new jobs. Workers reported that they believe job-specific skills and so-called hard skills would be more important than employability skills for a new job, although research suggests that employers value skills like collaboration, communication and critical thinking.
• Better pay and long-term stability are important considerations when considering a job change, especially for respondents with a high school diploma or some college.