Technical school appeals to non-traditional students

Southeast Missouri State University is more interested in educational competition than the focus of learning for students.

For years we have been told that education is the means to a better paying career. For years Cape has struggled with the income gap reported by USA Today on 07/13/2018: "The share of poor black residents living in extreme poverty neighborhoods rose from 45.3% in 2010 to 78.1% in 2016, the highest black concentrated poverty rate of any U.S. city and nearly eight times the 9.8% national figure."

Education is the great solution to solving the income gap, but first we have to have education that is affordable and available.

The premise of the Committee for Affordable Technical Education for the Cape Girardeau area is to capture what educators refer to as non-traditional students. A two-year institution is designed to serve a different part of the education marketplace.

A technical school addresses the changing workplace and takes advantage of the "service economy" vs. the previous "knowledge economy".

Timing is everything. Many of these local students have invested in themselves by participating in the state A Plus program. They want to cash in that learning coupon to explore their path to a better life. This underserved market is one that can significantly affect the income gap by providing opportunities for certification or associates degrees that puts the students into the workforce with the skills for success. An important first step of any journey to eliminate that income gap.

In the podcast "What Exactly is College For?" Stephen J Dubner referred to a Brookings Institute report that only 20% of community college students go on to a bachelor's degree. Northwestern President Morty Shapiro noted in the discussion of community colleges: "I've always been in awe of them, to be honest with you. They're generally open enrollment. And people look at them and say, Well, how come the percentage of people who enroll in a community college who aspire to a bachelor's degree only what, 19 or 20 percent get them? And I'm thinking, 'That's pretty good.'"

President Vargas has outlined various data explaining the value of Southeast Missouri State University is around nearly a billion dollars to the economy. Congratulations to SEMO in contributing close to a quarter of the Federal Reserve Bank St. Louis defined Gross Domestic Product of $3.9 billion for the Cape Girardeau-IL area for 2020.

Educational institutions obviously generate benefits beyond degrees. While SEMO might lose a few million dollars, think of the additional benefits a technical school could add to the economy. Most importantly it can address that income disparity that education has been touted to address. It can only happen if the focus of education is the students and not the income for an institution that has, like many colleges, priced itself out of reach for so many in this area.

Education promises better income, but if it remains out of reach the income gap continues to grow. Viva la difference in a four-year college and a two-year technical school. Each should focus on their respective students, for one cannot effectively serve both.

A community is like a family, sacrifices are made for the betterment of the whole.

Paul Nenninger, of Cape Girardeau, is a member of the Committee for Affordable Technical Education.