11 Ways the Federal Government Is Making It More Difficult to Access Career Pathways 

Key Points 

• The federal higher education and workforce systems live in mortal fear of a single dollar being wasted by those outside their reach, but when insiders waste billions of dollars year after year, concerns are muted at best. 
• Although often well-intentioned, supporters of the education and workforce regulatory state have created a system that seems almost purposely designed to kill innovation and opportunity. 
• We must abandon our obsession with trying to bubble wrap learners in “protective” regulations and instead embrace a flexible structure that allows anyone to serve learners, with additional funds flowing to only those who succeed in doing so.

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Introduction

America is becoming worse at connecting workers with jobs—in part because it is unnecessarily difficult to offer and access education and training that could prepare students for a career. Two decades ago, there were just over three million open jobs, and it took, on average, fewer than 20 days to fill an open position;¹ today, the number of open jobs has more than doubled, and it takes more than 50 days to fill each of those positions.² 

It is also becoming more difficult for students to receive the education they need to get these jobs. A year’s college tuition, for instance, cost less than $5,000 (in 2023 dollars) 60 years ago, a figure that had more than tripled by 2023.³ During the 2021–22 school year, US educational institutions spent a whopping $1.6 trillion, representing 7 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.⁴ 

Unfortunately, while spending on education and workforce development programs continues to increase, a steady stream of regulatory and sub-regulatory barriers enacted at the federal level are making it harder to achieve one of these programs’ primary objectives: connecting people with good jobs. 

Although often well-intentioned, supporters of the education and workforce regulatory state have created a system that seems almost purposely designed to kill innovation. It is a system with high walls that prevent not only entrance but also exit. An entrepreneur with a creative idea to better serve learners will find it almost impossible to qualify for and receive meaningful funding directly and will likely encounter more barriers to receiving indirect support (such as by operating as a vendor to an eligible provider) compared to just a short time ago. 

Inversely, a provider that has been failing learners for decades will be almost impossible to remove from funding eligibility, particularly if it is a nonprofit or public entity. And increasingly, when learners fail within these walls, they are bailed out with ever-greater taxpayer subsidies, such as the current administration’s recent loan-forgiveness efforts costing several hundred billion dollars, which only serve to further bolster the approved providers’ failure. 

Meanwhile, sentries roam the walls, stamping out any new and innovative ideas within and eliminating anything that attempts to gain entry (or even lob assistance over the walls to those inside). This dynamic has been worsening for decades but has been exacerbated by regulations (currently proposed and enacted) from the Biden-Harris administration. 

The current system lives in mortal fear that an outsider will waste a single dollar of taxpayer funds in their efforts to solve these problems, but when insiders waste billions of dollars year after year, concerns are muted at best. To effectively serve learners, we must abandon our obsession with trying to bubble wrap them in “protective” regulations and instead embrace a flexible structure that allows anyone to serve learners, with additional funds flowing to only those who succeed. 

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Reprinted with permission from AEI by Michael Brickman.

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.