Abstract
This paper discusses the challenges that America is facing in the race to be first in the world regarding the importance of obtaining a higher education for a better workforce of the nation. The rapid increase in globalization of the 21st century has completely changed the course of the world allowing a vast open playing field and competition from every direction. Foreign students have gained access to the American workplace due to outsourcing and breached the job market for American workers who lack the necessary skillset and education qualifications. While the worldly competition in education has drastically increased, President Obama has addressed a goal for the nation by 2020-for America to be top in the highest proportion of college graduates of the world. One of the greatest challenges that plays as an obstacle for this goal is the problematic college access. On the contrary, Germany has found that college education is not a necessity at all and has successfully maintain a low unemployment rate. However, the economy and government of the United States is structured very differently, and the framework of Obama’s plan proved that a stronger educated population is directly correlated with a stronger nation itself.

History and Theoretical Framework
For much of America’s history, a college education was not needed to make a decent living as the difference between the average wages of high school and college graduates was very minor. After WWII, however, the growth of education started to move in a forward direction as the demand for highly skilled labor was increasing. In fact by 1999, year-round workers with a bachelor’s degree earned 1.8 times the annual pay of workers with only a high school diploma. As the trend started to accelerate, the government intervened by passing the Higher Education Act of 1965 which expanded need-based financial assistance to the general population. Yet, as much of a rise in higher education was evident in society, many key issues have raised during this evolution which play an important role in the workforce of today. Despite the gains of the education trend in early history, the examples of the ‘cradle-to-career’ vision plan and ‘the degree project’ serve as case studies to show the challenges and obstacles America must face to overcome global competition for education in this current decade. As the nation is lacking in skilled workers compared to the foreign educated, President Barrack Obama, is strongly pushing the necessity of higher education to the American population. The rumor prevails that ‘America is the greatest nation in the world,’ however for it to become a reality, the conquest of higher education attainment for all will allow America to win the race to the top.
Research Question
As global competition is increasing and many corporate jobs are being taken up from corporate outsourcing, what role does higher education play in preparing students for the workplace of the 21st century?
Thesis
As the answers of many questions including what the results of the global competition for education will be and how it can change the scope of the world have been researched, the challenges for the United States in education preparation for the work place have yet to be deeply explored. Despite a country such as Germany that can somehow maintain a low unemployment rate with simple vocational job training, it is a different case for America. Especially in this current decade due to global competition, the pressures of corporations relying on outsourcing foreign employees and limited public access to higher education for various demographics challenges our government and economy. In order to suppress such pressures, the necessity of higher education is highly encouraged not only for the success of the people, but also to maintain the nation’s global position and growth.

Important Texts and Definitions
Several important theoretical texts include Friedman’s “The World is Flat,” Kanter’s “American Higher Education: First in the World,” and Carnevale’s “Higher Education and Jobs.” Collectively, these texts served to show the challenges America faces in the global competition for education in this current decade. Friedman’s article provided the foundation of my research by describing the rapid globalization competition of the 21st century, as well as arguing that the lack of skilled workers in America compared to foreign students leads to corporate outsourcing. The words “higher education,” or “post-secondary education” both refer to any level of education after high school which is becoming a necessity in today’s workplace. Due to foreign students having a greater skillset than American’s without such level of education, the word “outsourcing” is used to describe when corporations seek employees from different countries. As the nation is at risk from a diminishing job market, there are many challenges to overcome in order to increase the overall proportion of college graduates.