CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
North Carolina’s universities are falling behind on providing the number of well-educated, skilled workers the state needs, according to a report last week to a commission planning the University of North Carolina system’s future.
The state will need 400,000 new workers with bachelor’s degrees by 2014, but its public and private colleges are expected to produce only 254,000, according to data presented to the UNC Tomorrow Commission. To fill that gap, colleges will have to produce more than 15,000 more graduates each year.
“The sheer volume of that left me breathless,” said Hanna Gage, a member of the commission and the UNC Board of Governors.
The UNC system is composed of all 16 of North Carolina’s public institutions that grant baccalaureate degrees.
The commission plans to hold 11 regional meetings around the state starting next month, to take ideas and requests from citizens, and business and community leaders about what they need from the state’s higher education system.
The panel of educational, business and community members will craft a report by the end of this year, to which the university will respond by the spring.
