Alumnus Clarence Page Credits Vedder in Story on Removing Systemic Barriers in Hiring Practices

Dr. Richard Vedder

Ohio University alumnus Clarence Page BSJ’69, aa syndicated columnist and a member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board, credits one of his former professors, Dr. Richard Vedder, in a column he wrote about removing systemic barriers in hiring practices.

Page notes that employers often require a college degree for positions that don’t necessarily need one, a practice called “over-credentialing.”

Considering the other companies that have been opening their hiring goals up to bright college dropouts, whose numbers are legion, I was quickly reminded of an idea I endorsed almost a decade ago: A collegiate version of the GED (General Educational Development tests) long used by high school dropouts to earn a high school equivalency diploma.

I credit the idea to my semiretired economics professor Richard Vedder at Ohio University who also is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute. When I called to get his view on the OneTen initiative, the widely-published critic of soaring college costs said he was delighted to read about an effort based on the same idea that inspired his collegiate GED idea….

Read Page’s column, “A GED for college? Not as far-fetched as it sounds.”