{"id":401603,"date":"2026-07-17T01:34:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T01:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401603\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T01:34:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T01:34:07","slug":"new-law-requires-college-programs-to-prove-grads-out-earn-typical-high-school-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401603\/","title":{"rendered":"New law requires college programs to prove grads out-earn typical high school workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) A new law that took effect July 1 is changing how some college degree programs are judged, requiring them to show that most graduates earn at least as much as a typical high school graduate.<\/p>\n

Michael Itzkowitz, founder and president of the HEA Group, a higher education research organization, said the policy represents a major shift for colleges and universities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the biggest changes that we\u2019ve seen in higher education within the past few decades,\u201d Itzkowitz said.<\/p>\n

In California, Itzkowitz said the law would require most program alumni to earn at least $36,000 a year, which he described as roughly $18 an hour.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New law requires college programs to prove grads out-earn typical high school workers (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a student can\u2019t earn more than this minimal amount which is about eighteen dollars an hour. It\u2019s harder to think that they are going to be able to engage in civic discourse or attend community meetings, especially if they aren\u2019t making ends meet,\u201d Itzkowitz said.<\/p>\n

Itzkowitz said the law is expected to affect only a small share of degree programs nationwide, estimating it would apply to about 2% of associate and bachelor\u2019s degree programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn California, specifically, just to give you a sense, no teacher education programs fail; not many liberal arts programs fail to have their graduates earn above this middle amount,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Among students and faculty in Bakersfield area colleges, some raised concerns that the earnings benchmark could steer students away from certain fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be because I wouldn\u2019t be able to do much after graduating. Then I would probably have to stick to something that\u2019s not really my passion,\u201d said Lupita Perez, a CSUB psychology major.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New law requires college programs to prove grads out-earn typical high school workers (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

Amanda Studebaker, a sociology professor at CSUB, said the law could have a chilling effect on students\u2019 choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could discourage them from going after the things they want to, so I think it’s problematic,\u201d Studebaker said.<\/p>\n

Itzkowitz also pointed to what he described as positive data tied to the law in California, saying it can highlight programs where graduates see strong earnings.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New law requires college programs to prove grads out-earn typical high school workers (KBAK\/KBFX)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can also identify almost five hundred college programs to where the majority of graduates earn at least fifty thousand dollars more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) A new law that took effect July 1 is changing how some college degree programs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-401603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}