| New initiative, “Your Career Starts HERE,” will “calculate” the return on investment for various occupations and the training and related costs needed to obtain them | |
| Harrisburg – The Pennsylvania Chamber Educational Foundation is proud to launch “Your Career Starts HERE” – an online career calculator aimed at helping Pennsylvania students make informed post-secondary education decisions. As the next phase of the PA Chamber’s wide-ranging workforce initiative aimed at addressing the jobs skills gap, Start the Conversation HERE, the calculator pulls key Pennsylvania specific information – including starting salary, educational costs and potential loan payments upon graduation. This new website tool is designed to help Pennsylvania students determine the most productive career path.
“For many people, post-secondary education is the first substantive investment they make as an adult,” said PA Chamber President and CEO Gene Barr. “Unfortunately, we’re finding that many students are graduating with degrees that don’t match up with the in-demand careers that are currently available in the state. This disconnect results in people without jobs, but also jobs without the people to fill them. We’re excited to launch this innovative, user-friendly tool to help Pennsylvanians make educated decisions regarding the realistic costs and return on investment of their educational choices post-graduation. This is the next step in our initiative to ensure Pennsylvania’s workforce is trained and prepared to meet the needs of the Commonwealth’s evolving jobs market.” The career calculator is an interactive tool that allows users to input key information to calculate the ROI on their educational investment and selected career field. Based on data pulled from the state and federal government, users can determine the job prospects in a particular field, the average starting salary, the training or educational requirements; as well as the educational costs and potential loan payments upon graduation. Users can also compare the costs of obtaining the degree/training for a specific career at different schools across the Commonwealth. “The initial career and educational choices a person makes can either set them on a path toward long-term debt or career readiness,” said PA Chamber Workforce Development Executive Allen Norton. “There’s a large segment of the population that is not unemployed, but rather underemployed – meaning that they are working in a career that they didn’t need the degree they went to school for. We’re hoping to stop that cycle and also stop the state’s population decline by showing all the career and educational opportunities that exist in Pennsylvania.” More information on the PA Chamber’s far-reaching workforce initiative is available online. ### The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Educational Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) organization created to fund timely and insightful research and educational programs that will positively impact Pennsylvania’s economic future and enhance the quality of life for all Pennsylvanians. The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is the state’s largest broad-based business association, with its statewide membership comprising businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors. The PA Chamber is The Statewide Voice of Business™.
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