High Country Times

On December 5, 2024, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) spoke on the House Floor about "launchpad jobs," which are paving the way for career success without necessitating a college degree. These jobs are highlighted in a new study revealing that "one in five workers without a degree are out-earning the median college graduate and two million nondegree workers are earning more than $100,000 per year."

Chairwoman Foxx remarked, "For decades, Americans have been sold the line that a college degree is a prerequisite to success and economic mobility. This can be discouraging to the vast majority of the American workforce without a baccalaureate degree." She continued by emphasizing that studies show this narrative is outdated and noted that rising college costs have led to alternative models for stability and success through hands-on job experience.

The Burning Glass Institute conducted a study of 65 million American wage earners. It found that by age 40, one in five workers with only a high school diploma earned above the median income for college graduates—$70,000—without incurring student debt. Additionally, 5 percent of these individuals earned six-figure salaries.

Foxx explained how these successful careers begin: "One factor is what Burning Glass calls 'launchpad jobs.' These jobs give high school students and graduates real-world, wage-earning experience that develop skills they can build careers upon." Examples include roles such as telemarketer, computer support specialist, software developer, flight attendant, commercial diver, and quarry rock splitter.

A New York Times article featured two young individuals whose achievements demonstrate the potential of launchpad jobs. One young man began as an intern at a local bank after high school graduation and advanced to become a loan officer earning $50,000 annually while pursuing his Bachelor of Arts. Another young woman participated in a career learning program during high school which led her to work at a pharmacy; she later earned her doctorate and now earns $100,000 annually as a pharmacy operations manager.

Foxx concluded by advocating for empowering programs that provide high school students with experiences to develop real skills: "If we want to strengthen the American workforce and help young wage-earners achieve economic stability and success," she stated, "we need to stop shunting them into an education model that saddles them with debt and delays their real-world experience."