Sen. Marco Rubio, who has made higher education reform a big part of his platform as a public official, has brought the issue to the forefront again.
Speaking at CPAC on Thursday, he essentially touted the notion that there is too much of an emphasis on 4-year college degrees – to the detriment of vocational fields, a valid and honorable pathway, as well as a vital one to this nation and its economy and backbone.
Meanwhile, he argued, liberal arts college grads are swamped with debt and stuck in dead-end jobs.
Via Laura Byrne at Red Alert Politics:
“Not everyone has to go to a four-year liberal arts college. We still need plumbers,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told the audience during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.
“Why aren’t we graduating more kids not just with a high school diploma but with an industry certification degree?” he asked the auditorium full of conservatives.
According to Rubio,there are 3 million jobs that aren’t being filled because Americans don’t have the right skills for these jobs.
“They need skills for these jobs,” he continued.”So, instead of being a receptionist, she can be an ultra-sound tech.”
Rubio also argued that not only are not enough Americans acquiring useful skills, but so many of these same Americans are graduating from four-year universities swamped in student debt.
“You should be very concerned about student loan debt,” the Florida senator warned the crowd.
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Laura Byrne is Student Free Press Association’s spring 2013 fellow at Red Alert Politics.
IMAGE: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
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