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This essay contends that America's economic and social prosperity depends on nurturing and improving graduate programs, and that both universities and policy makers need to act in some very specific ways to secure future success. It first looks at the relationship between graduate training and prosperity, next considers the vulnerabilities in current US graduate training, and concludes by analyzing the implications of those observations for federal policies shaping graduate education.
I will begin by examining the claim that a prosperous American future hinges on a highly educated population. At the highest end, this means people with the best graduate education that the world has to offer. We are already used to hearing this claim made for education more generally; that it has the power to fuel the engine of prosperity is a familiar claim made within the politics of economic recovery. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan assures us that “the best thing we can do is educate our way to a better economy”(Hebel, 2009), while policy analyst David Breneman tells us that “there is no evidence that the needs for a highly skilled workforce are going to diminish, whatever course the economy takes toward recovery” (Breneman, 2009, 3). And President Obama has articulated a concrete goal of moving America from tenth place to first place among the OECD nations in its proportion of 25–34 year olds with associate's degrees or higher.
Debra Stewart became president of the Council of Graduate Schools in 2000, after serving as vice chancellor and graduate dean at North Carolina State University. Stewart leads CGS in supporting and advancing graduate education through advocacy, research, and best-practice initiatives.
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