The recent response by Anthony Carnevale et al. to the authors' analysis of the fundamental shortcomings associated with their predictions of widespread college labor shortages focuses on three areas. First, Anthony Carnevale et al. suggest that the authors are educational Luddites by noting in the title of their response that the authors believe…

Models of aggregate production are estimated and used to investigate the effects of changes in labor force composition on the recently observed decline in the earnings of college graduates relative to other workers and on the fall in the earnings of younger workers relative to older workers. (Author/SSH)

Tyler and others refute Hecker's 1990 article warning that the economy is generating college graduates faster than it is generating jobs. They argue that the 1980s labor market successfully absorbed new college graduates. Hecker expresses concerns over their analysis. (SK)

Includes three articles: "More College Graduates May Be Chasing Fewer Jobs" (Shelley); "College Graduates: Do We Have Too Many or Too Few?" (Hecker); and "College Earnings and Why They Vary" (Hecker). (SK)

Statistics suggest that, despite ongoing financial difficulties, the rate of graduation from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is improving, and students of these colleges have higher average wages than similar individuals who did not attend college or who attended non-HBCUs. (MSE)

Individual personalities and tastes are incorporated into male and female earnings equations and their effects on discrimination are analyzed. Results indicate that the omission of tastes and personalities from previous studies may have led to an overestimation of the extent of discrimination against women without college schooling. (Author/SSH)

Affirmative action is a necessary and effective strategy to end racial and gender inequalities. While moral and historical defenses of affirmative action have merit, economic reasoning is a more potent argument. Analysis of the economic costs and benefits of affirmative action in higher education illustrate its effectiveness in reducing income…

The labor market for persons who continue their education beyond high school is projected for 1985. After a brief discussion of the probable changes in the occupational distribution of new entrants by occupation, attention is directed to likely trends in wages of younger workers. Also considered are projections concerning underemployment of…

The most valuable result of right education is the broadening, deepening, and refining of human life. This result can no more be measured by dollars and cents than truth, self-sacrifice, and love can be made out of pork and potatoes. While the higher things of the soul are priceless rewards which true education brings, they are not its only…