Map to the Middle Class

Questions at work

The Map to the Middle Class is a project that will explore what it takes to get to the middle class in an evolving economy

The story of work is one of deepening economic polarization. Good jobs are disappearing for people with only a high-school diploma, while wage and employment gains increasingly accrue to people with higher education. In this series, we’ll explore how trends such as automation could reshape the types of jobs that are available. And we’ll find out how schools can help young people prepare for a landscape where middle-class life is increasingly out of reach.

But to do that, we need to hear from you.

Here’s how it works: You ask. We report. We share the answer.

You could ask questions such as: Is my job safe from automation? Is getting a four-year college degree worth the cost? Are good jobs for people without college degrees ever coming back?

So what questions do you have about school, training programs and the path to the middle class? Ask your question here

Out of the fields: In a North Carolina county where few Latino parents have diplomas, their kids are aiming for college

Latinos have some of the lowest education levels in the country, but poverty and immigration fears aren’t holding back some students and schools trying to break the cycle

First Step to the Middle Class

by Meredith Kolodner – October 21, 2019

Hope in coal country: Parents without diplomas keep their kids in school

In a Kentucky county where coal once reigned, a principal tries to map a future for students that won’t take them away from home

First Step to the Middle Class

by Meredith Kolodner – October 21, 2019

Progress in the Deep South: Black students combat segregation, poverty and dwindling school funding

In a parish with one of the lowest rates of black high school graduates in the nation, a community tries to raise graduation rates

First Step to the Middle Class

by Meredith Kolodner – October 21, 2019

Desde el campo: En un condado de Carolina del Norte donde pocos padres latinos tienen diplomas, sus hijos van en busca de una educación universitaria

Los latinos tienen algunos de los más bajos niveles educacionales del país, pero el temor a la pobreza y a los problemas de inmigración no son un impedimento para alumnos y escuelas que tratan de romper el ciclo

First Step to the Middle Class

by Meredith Kolodner – October 21, 2019

College dreams often melt away in summer months. ‘Near-peer’ counseling is helping keep them alive.

Eight years in, a program that helps low-income students stay on track to college is spreading — and showing results

Guidance Gap

by Sarah Gonser – August 30, 2019

OPINION: Higher education must not leave working families behind

Why short-term training programs make sense for both careers and budgets