A recent UNC System report reveals that North Carolina is not graduating nearly enough students with degrees in critical industries.
The “Workforce Alignment Report” is a new initiative, with plans to be updated every two years, to understand ties between degrees competed and jobs created in the state.
The North Carolina economy is booming, with 2025 reported as a record year for job commitments and over $24 billion in capital investment and new expanding companies, according to the NC Chamber of Commerce.
“It is clear that North Carolina has a strong and growing economy that will require a highly skilled workforce for years to come,” the report said.
Despite the upward trend in the economy, there is a lack of recent graduates to fill key roles. Major shortfalls include degrees in engineering, health care, science, and education. According to the report, the state is facing a projected shortfall of 5,000 to 10,000 bachelor’s degrees needed to fill projected open jobs.
“Embedded within North Carolina’s constitution is a charge for our public universities to encourage and promote ‘all useful learning,’” the report says.
Across its 16 universities, the UNC System offers more than 350 academic programs at different degree levels. The workforce is growing faster than universities can graduate students in the most in-demand fields.
National trends
North Carolina is not alone in this issue. According to a recent report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and Workforce, the United States needs over 5 million additional workers who have some sort of post-secondary education by 2032.
The US is experiencing a shortage of nurses, which is only expected to rise as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows. Much of this problem is linked to universities’ struggle to expand capacity in nursing programs, says the report.
Teachers and engineers don’t fall far behind. Teacher shortages are predicted to particularly affect elementary and middle schools. Nationally, jobs for teachers began to outpace hires in 2017, and the gap is only getting larger.
Engineers face a similar problem. Engineers are critical to the success of the economy because they drive infrastructure advancement and technological development, the report says. And there is a lack of engineering graduates in fields that align with labor-market needs.
“Workforce shortages are the norm in many areas, including teaching, engineering, and health care,” said Robert Luebke, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation. “They are tied to real changes in population and our unwillingness to deal with the implications of those changes. Public programs to address these problems are laudable, but they are generally far downstream from the root causes. If we are looking for long-term solutions, we might do better to engage young people in specific professions or career paths and discuss the need for cultural changes.”
What they plan to do about it
The UNC System is making strides and investing in programs to strengthen enrollment numbers in declining fields. In July 2024, more than $29 million was invested to expand nursing programs at 12 universities across the system.
North Carolina State University plans to enroll around 4,000 more students in engineering and computer science over the next five years. The NC General Assembly invested $125 million in state universities to expand engineering programs in an initiative called, “Engineering North Carolina’s Future.”
The state is working to manage teacher attrition rates over the last few years, as there is an overall national shortage of teachers.