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ByJenniferC.Kerr The Associated Press WASHINGTON Graduatesof career training programs at public colleges tend to land better paying jobs than those who attended for- profit schools, according to government data released Thursday. The Education Depart- ment data show average earnings of those with cer- tificates from public schools were nearly $9,000 higher than those with for-profit certificate programs. The report also found nearly a third of for-profit students graduated from programs with median earnings below the federal minimum wage, which now stands at $7.25 an hour. That's compared with only 14 percent in the public sec- tor. "College is the best in- vestment a person can make in their long-term fu- ture," Education Secretary John B. King Jr. said as the report was released. The earnings information "is an important thing for stu- dents to pay attention to as they decide what programs to pursue and where to pur- sue them." About 1.3 million stu- dents are enrolled in career college programs in a vari- ety of fields from nursing, welding, and culinary arts to certificate programs for auto mechanics, pharmacy technicians and dental as- sistants. Community colleges in particular, the report said, offered programs that out- performed similar pro- grams at for-profit schools. The report said certifi- cate programs at public un- dergraduate schools usually had more students enrolled in high-earning fields, such as nursing. Graduates of those pub- lic programs also tended to have higher incomes than grads in the same fields of study at for-profits. That was true for most of the 14 fields of study examined. A few, including culinary arts and cosmetology, had better average earnings at for-profit schools. The re- port didn't address why that is. The report looked at ca- reer programs at about 3,700 public and for-profit schools that are covered by the "gainful employment" regulations that went into effect last year soon after the troubled for-profit gi- ant Corinthian Colleges filed for bankruptcy pro- tection. The rules require career training programs to show that students can earn enough money after grad- uation to pay off their stu- dent loans. They're aimed at shutting down programs that make phony promises to prospective students, push them to take out gov- ernment-backed loans, and then leave them with moun- tains of debt and sometimes worthless degrees. The data reflect 2014 earnings data for students who graduated between 2008 and 2012, depending on the size and type of their program. Average annual earn- ings over the 14 fields of study ranged from $33,835 for nursing at the top of the list, followed by welding at $29,587, down to cosme- tology at the bottom of the list with mean earnings of $14,130 per year. In January, the depart- ment plans to release stu- dent debt-to-earnings data for college career programs. If the programs don't meet the new "gainful employ- ment" requirements and fail to improve, they will lose eligibility for federal student aid. More than 80 percent of students at for- profits borrow federal stu- dent loans to pay for col- lege, compared to fewer than half of students at pub- lic schools who do the same. EDUCATION Betterpayoffforpubliccollegecareerprogramgrads STEWMILNE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Brown University graduates throw their caps into the air at the conclusion of graduation ceremonies, in Providence, R.I. By Seth Borenstein The Associated Press WASHINGTON Scientists have hacked a plant's genes to make it use sun- light more efficiently — a breakthrough that could eventually dramatically increase the amount of food grown. Think of it as photosyn- thesis on steroids. Photo- synthesis is how plants convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into food. But it's a very inef- ficient process, using less than 1 percent of the en- ergy available, scientists said. By genetically modify- ing part of the plant's pro- tective system, which kicks into gear when too much sunlight beams down, sci- entists were able to in- crease leaf growth be- tween 14 and 20 percent in experiments with to- bacco plants, according to a study published Thurs- day in the journal Science . "Now that we know it works, it won't be too dif- ficult to do it with other crops," said study lead au- thor Stephen Long, a pro- fessor of crop sciences at the University of Illi- nois. "If you look at crops around the world, it would (increase yield) many mil- lion tons of food." That's still at least 15 years away, but this is the first time scientists have been able to do something like this, Long said. A plant's protective sys- tem is like a pressure re- lief valve in a steam en- gine. When there's too much sunlight, it turns on and gets rid of excess en- ergy safely. When the plant is in the shade, the protec- tive system turns off, but not quickly, said study co- author Krishna Niyogi, a plant scientist at the How- ard Hughes Medical Insti- tute and the University of California, Berkeley. Long said the protec- tive system regulates sun- light in much the same way light-adjusting glasses darken and lighten. But it takes 10 minutes to an hour for plants to adjust, so the plant doesn't get the opti- mal amount of energy, es- pecially when it goes back into sunlight. So Long and his team genetically mod- ified the plant to turn that protection system off and on faster. Two different plants in the experiment increased leaf growth by 20 percent and a third by 14 percent. Long said he used tobacco because it is easy to ma- nipulate the genetics, but there is no reason it can't work with rice, corn and other seed-oriented foods. Maybe the yield increase would be only 10 percent, he said. BREAKTHROUGH Sc ie nt is ts m odi fy p la nt s by ha ck in g ge ne s, m ak in g th em u se s unl ig ht b et te r HALEY AHLERS — UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Three plants transformed to improve photoprotection recovery are visibily larger than the normal (wildtype) tobacco plant, right. This could be your lucky day by helping a dog or cat find a loving home from... Paws & Claws ADOPT A PET TODAY Nala Ad Sp onsorship $ 32 Call Suzy at (530) 737-5056 TEHAMACOUNTYDEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES 1830 Walnut Street P.O. Box 38 • Red Bluff, CA� 96080 (530) 527-3439 CORNING ANIMAL SHELTER 4312 Rawson Rd. Corning, CA 96021 (530) 824-7054 Select"Subscribe"tabin lower right corner Complete information for automatic weekly delivery to your email inbox That's it! FREE online subscription to TV Select Magazine Digital edition emailed to you, every Saturday! 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