Student loan credits tied to in‑state employment … housing incentives linked to New Jersey‑based employers … and, he was serious, wage subsidies for top early‑career workers in key sectors.
These new ideas came from Rutgers’ new president, William Tate IV, when he was asked on a recent panel about how the state could better improve its workforce development.
Tate, who came to New Jersey last summer after serving in a similar capacity at LSU, gave an answer that showed he already understands the biggest issue facing workforce development in the state: New Jersey is an expensive state to work and live.
That reality forces the talent equation into stark terms, he said.
“If you have a high‑cost state, the only way you’re going to be able to compete in the market is the quality of the people has to be far better than the people you’re competing with,” he said. “The quality of the people has to be better, because the cost parameters here are exorbitant.”
Speaking at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s Public Policy Forum last Friday in Princeton, Tate said New Jersey’s long‑term economic competitiveness hinges on whether it can keep early‑career workers in the state — and whether higher education is empowered and funded to prepare them for a labor market that is shifting faster than ever.
Tate contrasted New Jersey with Louisiana, noting that the talent, labor and cost structures are “shockingly different,” he said.
New Jersey, he said, cannot rely on low costs or simple proximity to major markets. It must instead build its competitive advantage on retaining top graduates and strengthening its early‑career worker pipeline.
Tate said those investments are not only pro‑worker, they are fiscally efficient.
“It’s cheaper than buying mid‑career people,” he said.
Workforce development isn’t just about developing talent, it’s about developing companies, too. Tate said the state has to do a better job leveraging its universities as engines of commercialization.
While New Jersey’s research output is strong, he said the state badly trails other areas (including Massachusetts) in terms of turning research into startups, a weakness he attributed partly to structural issues on campuses.
Tech‑transfer offices, he said, are under‑resourced and overly risk‑averse; faculty reward systems favor publications over company formation; and the state lacks the early‑stage capital pipeline necessary to support university‑born ventures.
Tate argued for adding more state‑backed proof of concept funding, speeding up IP licensing, and adopting standardized terms — including equity‑sharing models — that do not punish the founders, he said.
“We could boom here,” he said. “It’s all in place.”
For all majors.
Tate pushed back against the idea that strengthening workforce preparation means eliminating fields of study such as English or history. The key, he said, is adding stackable credits to those majors — embedding data and AI projects into non‑STEM majors and expanding co‑op programs.
Universities can adapt quickly, but employers must clearly articulate their needs, he said.
Tate also pushed back at the idea that the cost of higher education is too much for many segments of society in New Jersey. He noted that Rutgers dramatically lowers tuition costs for many.
“If you’re under a certain income level, your tuition is basically free,” he said. “We’ve got to be better at advertising that.”
And if you think all of Tate’s ideas simply involve the state spending more money on subsidies, he’s got a ready response for that, too.
“Any dollar you give to a higher education institution, you get back three, four to one,” he said. “You can’t give enough money if you want to drive the economy through higher ed.”
