Here's a suggestion for a Utah solution to the high cost of its public colleges

German companies want to train because they know schools can’t do it,” a German trade association executive told Tamar Jacoby of The Atlantic. America’s educational system is under pressure to reduce costs and improve results. What we need is a flexible education system that is economically tuned to the needs of the market and is cost-justified.

Now I am hearing a call to make the first two years of public colleges, including trade schools, free. For example, see the article “Four Years of Universal Free Public College Might Be Out of Reach, But What About Two Years — Grades 13 and 14 — That Prepare Students for Better Jobs?” in the May 21 issue of New York Times Magazine. 

I am afraid to try and compute the cost, but guess who pays? Someday the American middle class — especially those who don’t have or need a college degree — are going to wake up.

Utah, let’s really shake things up and lead America to greatness. Let’s have the governor sign a bill that mandates that Utah high schools provide enough education to our kids that they are able to find employment that pays well. We did it before; why can’t we do it now?

Here’s how it could work: At the end of Grade 10, students choose whether they want two years of trade school classes or college classes. Upon receiving a high school diploma, they would automatically qualify for all Utah public colleges and universities and credit would be given to apply to their degree.

This would dramatically reduce their cost of higher education. My wife went to high school in Park Ridge, Illinois, in the early 1950s. She was required to take either trade school or college preparatory classes her last two years. Now she is an expert on Donald Trump’s tweets. Amazing. 

Let’s also shift some of the cost of higher education to private businesses. I would be more than willing to pay for part of two years of trade school or college for future employees. When I had a larger business, I would hire about five people each year due to growth or attrition. It makes a lot of sense to have five apprentices on board. Our cost of training a technician was $250,000 and God only knows how much it cost to train an effective salesperson. Getting a two-year jump over my competition is a heck of return on investment.

The world is getting smaller and a lot more competitive and America will never give up competing in the global economy. It’s the only way our middle class can get well-paying jobs. Look to the east and see what China and India are doing. China graduates 650,000 engineers a year and India graduates 350,000. America graduates 106,000. And, by the way, an education can be moved from country to country and state to state. Our children do not always have to work in Utah.

Student debt is at an all-time high and over 6 million American jobs are unfilled because employers can’t find anyone with the skills to fill them. Reducing two years of schooling is huge economically. Making the last two years of high school more meaningful would give people more hope in an economy that requires skills well beyond the ones taught in high schools now.

Robert Pembroke is chairman of Pembroke’s Inc. and considers himself on permanent sabbatical. He can be reached at pembroke894@gmail.com.