The Non-College Economy

There are two Americas today: one for the college-educated, and one for those without four-year degrees. Workers in these economies are worlds apart—the type of work they do, how they receive their pay, and even when they start their workday are night and day. From the coasts to the heartland, the skills and credentials a worker has increasingly determines their success or precarity. From finding ways to save for a comfortable retirement to getting affordable health insurance, the economic playing field is tilted against those without a college degree.

Because educational attainment determines the life you experience, policymakers need to understand the economic situation facing the two-thirds of working-age America without a college degree. And they need to develop policies to make the middle class more affordable and attainable for them.

Learn more about Third Way’s research into non-college America below.