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Event Michal Kurlaender Ann Huff Stevens Founders Board Room, Walter A. Buehler Alumni & Visitor's Center, UC Davis

The Role of Community Colleges in Workforce Development for Low-Skilled Workers
Sponsored by the Center for Poverty Research and the UC Davis School of Education

Community colleges are the primary point of access to higher education for many Americans. These open-access colleges offer many programs outside the traditional academic track to students with a diverse set of employment histories, academic preparation, and demographic characteristics. 

Policymakers continue to look to community colleges as critical institutions for improving workforce shortages and for raising the skills of the American workforce.  However, despite decades of research on the rising payoffs to schooling and skills of all types, little is known about the vocational or career technical pathways of the community college and how such pathways affect the students and labor markets they serve.  What is the role of the nation’s community colleges in promoting skill development through vocational education offerings?   The Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis will host an interdisciplinary gathering of scholars to discuss new work in this area, focusing on what we can learn from newly available data on community college programs and outcomes, and what are the key questions that researchers should tackle next.

Speakers/Participants will include:
Louis Jacobson, New Horizons Economic Research View Dr. Jacobson's Presentation 

Michal Kurlaender & Ann Stevens, University of California, Davis

Brian Jacob & Susan Dynarski, University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Nancy Shulock, Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy View Dr. Shulock's Presentation

Mary Visher, MDRC

Harry Holzer, Georgetown University View Dr. Holzer's Presentation

Eric Bettinger, Stanford University

To RSVP: We are no longer accepting RSVPs online; however, you may register on-site. 

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Conference Agenda
The Role of Community Colleges in Workforce Development for Low-Skilled Workers

8:30 – 9:15 am Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:15 – 9:30 am Welcome
Michal Kurlaender & Ann Stevens, University of California, Davis

9:30 – 10 :15 am Just the Facts Ma’am: Postsecondary Education and Labor Market Outcomes in the U.S.
Erin Dunlop & Harry Holzer, Georgetown University