College entrance exams and college admission
Paul Tough’s excellent new book The Years That Matter Most explores how college entrance exams––SAT and ACT––impact who gets admitted to college. He does it by comparing the impact of college entrance exams on both admissions and college success to high school GPA. The bottom line is that college entrance exams advantage male, affluent, white […]
Talent attracts capital
In preparing presentations about our placemaking recommendations what has struck me is that the key message can be summed up in three words: talent attracts capital. Where talent means primarily those with a four-year degree or more. What the most prosperous non-energy-driven states and regions have most in common is a high proportion of their […]
Neighborhoods without gentrification
In a recent post we made the case for why gentrification is a good. Something that all Michigan cities should want more of. In this post I want to explore what happens to neighborhoods without gentrification. I finished the previous post with: “Neighborhoods with high demand are vibrant, neighborhoods with low or no demand are […]
The increasing value of a four-year degree
We constantly hear that the value of a four-year degree is declining. Somehow conventional wisdom has it that since the end of the Great Recession college graduates are not enjoying the wage premium over those with less education than previous generations. Makes an interesting story. But it is not true! The data are clear: the […]