Students Should Quit Some 4-Year Universities

A Republican senator representing Alabama took aim at the state’s four-year universities, suggesting that students should “quit going to some of these four-year universities” in order to create a stronger workforce in the state, AL.com reported.

At a county GOP forum for Republican candidates, Sen. Tommy Tuberville called into question the value of some degrees that leave students unable to “get a job at Walmart.” He specifically called out Auburn and Troy Universities as well as the University of Alabama, according to AL.com and a live stream of the event.

“We’ve got to get these kids focused on getting something where they can make a living, stay in our state,” added Tuberville, who coached football at Auburn before he was elected to the Senate in 2020. He’s now running for governor against Democrat Doug Jones. If elected, Tuberville would have more influence over the funding and policies of public universities.

Among the three public universities the senator named, only one program would fail a new federal earnings test that measures whether students earn more than an adult with only a high school diploma, according to a recent analysis from the Postsecondary Education and Economics Research Center at American University.

Tuberville said at the forum that he wanted to expand workforce development programs in part to prepare workers for manufacturing jobs and other jobs that don’t require a four-year degree. He also wants to make sure more short-term programs can access Workforce Pell. Alabama approved its first program for the expanded Pell Grant in September.