US faces shortfall of 5.3M college-educated workers by 2032
Laura Spitalniak
September 16, 2025
Nursing, teaching and engineering would experience the largest gaps, per a study from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
Dive Brief:
The U.S. will need over 5 million additional workers who have at least some postsecondary education by 2032, according to a report released Tuesday by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
Of that total, 4.5 million will need at least a bachelor’s degree, according to the report. Degree-requiring positions facing “critical skills shortages” include nurses, teachers and engineers, it said.
Without intervention, the shortfall in skilled labor would be spurred by retirements outpacing similarly qualified workers entering the labor force and the creation of almost 700,000 new jobs requiring postsecondary education.
