A Framework for Assessing Higher Education Supply and Demand: Results for the Southern Region 1970-80.
An interacting system of elements for matching the supply and demand for workers from higher education is outlined. A portion of the system is exercised to obtain a provisional evaluation of supply and demand levels under selected assumptions of increased educational upgrading and industrial growth for the Southern region and its component states. The level of educational upgrading of workers necessary to accommodate all graduates during the 1970s is established, given most current projections of employment growth and degree production from four-year institutions. The impact of collegetrained supply and demand imbalances in each state is explored with respect to the required adjustment responses from the local and regional labor market and supply sources, and with regard to the significance of resulting fiscal outlays and "savings" in oversupply and shortage areas.