Americus, South Georgia Tech recognized as best in nation for meeting local labor-market needs with education credentials
Americus, GA, which is served by South Georgia Technical College, was listed as the most-aligned in the nation for meeting local labor-market needs and the credentials students earn in those markets for 2024. This was the findings based on a report released by The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (GUCEW) in “The Great Misalignment: Addressing the Mismatch between the Supply of Certificates and Associate’s Degrees and the Future Demand for Workers in the 565 US Labor Markets” by Jeff Strohl, Zachary Mabel, and Kathryn Peltier Campbell.
According to the report, Americus led the nation with an 81.8% overall alignment of credentials-to-job ratio. South Georgia Technical College is the main provider of the overall technical certificates and associate’s degrees in this area. Americus reported 84.9% of certificates-to-jobs alignment, and 62.2% of associate’s degrees-to-jobs ratio. In order for US labor markets to operate at peak potential, the skills of a local area’s workforce must align with the needs of its industries.
“South Georgia Technical College’s mission is to educate individuals for the workforce,” said SGTC President Dr. John Watford. “This report validates that our faculty and staff are working with existing and new business and industry leaders to provide the occupational credentials needed to match current as well as projected labor demand needs. It is humbling to be listed as the most aligned in the nation with our local labor-market needs. We realize there is more work to be done, however, we are bridging the gap between education and this area’s workforce needs.”
South Georgia Technical College also has been ranked as the top community college in Georgia for four consecutive years by two different reporting agencies.
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (GUCEW) analyzed data from the US Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), 2012 – 2021; US Department of Agriculture, Commuting Zones and Labor Market Areas, 2012-21: US Department of Education, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2019 – 2021; and GUCEW State Job Projections data set, 2023.
Four of the top 10 most-aligned local labor markets were located in Georgia, which has been recognized for the 10th consecutive year as the number one state for Business by Area Development magazine. In addition to Americus, GA leading the nation with the help of South Georgia Technical College, Savannah, GA was ranked fourth; the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA area was fifth; and Moultrie-Thomasville, GA; was listed seventh.
The other areas in the nation with aligned labor markets and their rankings included: Manhattan, KS (2nd); Paris, TN (3rd); Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA (6th), Pittsburg, PA (8th); Alexandria, MN (9th) and Maysville, KY (10th).
The report released by The GUCEW focused “on middle-skills credentials – that is, postsecondary sub-baccalaureate certificates and associate’s degrees. As of the 2020 – 21 school year, providers of these credentials numbered almost 4,800 nationwide. These providers were spread unevenly across the 565 local labor markets described in this report, with some markets served by dozens of providers and others served by only one.”
The GUCEW report found that overall, urban areas have stronger credentials-to-jobs alignment than rural areas because the larger number of providers in urban areas can award a more diverse mix of middle-skills credentials. However, South Georgia Technical College and Americus, GA may be an anomaly.
South Georgia Technical College is the main provider of the “middle-skills credentials” in the Americus area, which was listed as the most-aligned in the nation. SGTC offers over 200 associate degree, diploma, and technical certificate of credit program areas of study. The college collaborates directly with area employers by inviting them to serve on advisory committees for each of the college’s educational programs. This allows SGTC to match the skills demands to the local labor market needs.
“At South Georgia Tech, we are able to be more aligned with the labor market because we believe business and industry is our main customer,” explained President Watford, who added that students or graduates are the college’s products. “By providing business and industry (customers) with the best products (graduates trained for the workforce) we are accomplishing our mission of workforce development. We currently have a 100% job placement rating for graduates, and that is because we listen to our customers and provide them with a trained workforce.”
Middle-skills employment jobs include positions that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree. According to GCUEW, for each labor market to operate at its peak potential, needs and skills must align. “Achieving alignment requires local education and training providers to convey in-demand skills through the programs they offer,” revealed the report. Failure to do so, results in a great misalignment between credential supply and labor-market demand, specifically at the middle-skills level.
The GCUEW report found “at a national level, one major source of misalignment is the relatively high percentage of credentials that have little or no connection to a specific occupational cluster. Twenty-eight percent of all middle-skills credentials are granted in programs with no direct occupational match; the vast majority of these credentials are conferred in liberal arts, general studies, and humanities programs.”
South Georgia Technical College works with area business and industry leaders to align training with jobs or careers. SGTC worked with Georgia Power and local EMC’s to develop the electrical lineworker training program. SGTC is in the process of establishing an LPN to RN Bridge program to help meet the demand for the additional nurses in rural areas.
Other educational programs matched to high-demand careers include: Commercial Truck Driving, Law Enforcement Academy, Aviation Maintenance, Aircraft Structural, Automotive Technology, Auto Collision Repair, Avionics Maintenance, Business Technology, Computer Support, Criminal Justice, Diesel Equipment Technology, Drafting, Early Childhood Care/Education, Electrical Construction Technology, Electrical Systems Technology, Electronics, EMT, Industrial Systems, Precision Machining and Manufacturing Technology, Welding and Joining Technology and more.
“Middle-skills workers are vital to the American economy and to their local communities, and we need to do a better job of ensuring that middle-skills providers are meeting the needs of their local labor markets,” said Jeff Strohl, lead author and CEW’s Director. “Roughly 30% of annual job openings through 2031 will go to workers with an associate’s degree, a certificate, or some college credit but no degree.”
The report concluded with policy recommendations to help middle-skills providers respond to the needs of their students and local economies. These recommendations include strengthening coordination and cooperation across local providers, improving data practices so efforts to boost credentials-to-jobs alignment are well-informed, investing in counseling and programmatic efforts that improve pathways to careers, and improving career preparation and transfer pathways to bachelor’s degree programs in fields with no direct occupational match.
To view the full report and an online searchable tool to assess your local labor market’s credentials-to-jobs alignment, visit: https://cew.georgetown.edu/greatmisalignment.