The Issue
According to the NCES, nationwide, thirty to sixty percent of college freshmen require remedial courses in order to meet college admission requirements (2004). In Texas, 38 percent of Texas students enrolled in two-year colleges and technical schools and 24 percent of students at four-year public institutions took remedial courses during the 2006 academic year (Terry 2007). Twenty-eight percent of colleges in the United States report that students spend at least one year in remedial programs making it impossible to earn a degree in 2 or 4 years (NCES, 2003). These students have graduated from high school unprepared for participation in college courses. Unprepared student face both academic and financial barriers. Not preparing students for coursework and careers after high school is expensive. Remedial education courses are estimated to cost student one billion dollars annually. In addition, according to the ACT, despite participating in remedial classes, students who require remedial classes are significantly less likely to graduate from college (2005).
College preparation is not the only area in which schools are failing students. According to Achieve, Inc. (2005), 39% of high school graduates in the workforce say that they have deficiencies. When asked about being prepared for future jobs, forty-six percent say that they are deficient in the skills needed. These shortcomings in the education system will escalate when in the next 10 years, 80% of job openings will require education or training past the high school level (Achieve, 2010). One third of jobs will require a bachelor’s degree. Lower educational attainment is a national problem. Competing countries now boast more workers with associates degree...
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...e expense of vocational courses. Their study concluded that tougher course requirements in the four cores did not reduce the number of vocational courses students took. Furthermore, it increased the number of students taking computer and health related vocational courses. Increased graduation requirements were found to have a positive correlation with students pursuing vocational training after graduation. Students in state with higher graduation requirements produced graduates 5% more likely to obtain associates degrees or a bachelor’s degree. Also, higher academic graduation requirements positively affected wage rates. For each additional academic course required for graduation a $423 increase in the yearly earnings was reported. Bishop and Mane caution that these gains are driven by students in specific occupations involving computers and health care.
Secondary education rises faster in price than auto insurance. Yet, secondary education is almost required in the United States to succeed. Yes, there are hundreds of people in the United States that have been successful without a college degree, but they are outliers. Students should choose not to go to college based on outliers, but go to college based on the fact thousands have succeeded because of their college degrees. It is more important then ever to know what makes a college great if students are going to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over four
American’s education system has been entering crisis mode for a long time. Throughout the past few years, the overwhelming question “Is college needed or worth it?” While it is an opinion, there are facts that back up each answer. Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” mentions that the enlightened must help the unenlightened and further their knowledge. The problem with America today is that high school students are given the option of college and that makes for less enlightened people. While it is possible to learn in the work force or Army, college is a better option. Mary Daly wrote the article “Is It Still Worth Going to College?” which talks about the statistical value of attending. Michelle Adam wrote the article “Is College Worth It?” which mentions the struggle young people are going through to even get into college. Caroline Bird wrote the chapter “Where College Fails Us” in her book The Case Against College where she
A high school education is no longer sufficient to succeed in America’s increasingly complex economy. However, because of the high price point of a college education, far too many Americans are unable to afford education beyond high school. As shown in the graph below, the higher level of education received greatly increases the chances for employment and also dramatically increases the average salary potential of an individual.
If more people went to college, and less went the vocational route, jobs will take a momentous hit. Today, companies will not even touch an application that does not include a Bachelor’s Degree; even if the Bachelor’s Degree has nothing to do with the job being applied for. Attention is not given to whether the hopeful applicant qualifies for the job; all that matters is that the applicant has a Bachelor’s degree. Murray best sums up the American job market when he says, “Employers do not value what the student learned, just that the student has a degree” (Murray). However, if less people obtain a Bachelor’s Degree, employers will be forced to base applicants on their skills, and abilities. Furthermore, important vocational jobs that lie vacant will be filled. Good electricians, carpenters, and construction workers will always be in
backgrounds, is greater than ever, access and opportunity in American higher education is more complex and a lot less optimistic. Also, the majority of jobs requiring a college education doubled over the past 40 years (Carnevale, Smith, Strohl, 2010). While half of all people from high-income families have a bachelor’s degree by age 25, just
Jobs are scarce for people without higher education levels. Positions that required a high school diploma have shifted to crave a bachelor’s degree. In order to prepare children for the future, education must be a priority in every state. According to the American College Test (ACT), Florida students averaged 19.6 out of 36 which is lower than the national average of 21. Furthermore, the testing administrator says “only 19% of Florida students tested as college ready, compared to about a quarter of students nationally (Benk, 2013).” Florida taxpayers pay the burden when children go to college unprepared in need of remedial classes. Student loans are more prevalent to pay for these classes, but the extra burden of taking remedial classes also affects them in the long-run.
Charles Murray, the author of “What’s Wrong With Vocational School?” discusses how too many of today’s high school graduates wrongfully head off to a four-year college. For a large majority of the population, a college education is unnecessary. Murray says that a lot of students don’t even want an advanced education. Even if they do want an education, they aren’t qualified for it. Additionally, a large number of these students are striving for an education or experience that a four-year college isn’t meant to fulfill.
to about 83 percent of high school graduates enroll in some form of postsecondary education, but only about 52 percent of students complete their degrees. Further, a very small proportion of students complete a degree in four years—“among students starting at ‘four-year’ institutions, only 34 percent finish a B.A. in four years, 64 percent within six years, and 69 percent within eight and a half years.” Colleges always want students to graduate and support their alma mater. However this begins with deciding what student are mentally readiness and determination for the task that lies ahead, college. In today’s society we struggle trying to find a proper definition for college readiness. This is the main reason statistics and graduation rates suffer in the way that they do. Just because a high school student reaches the age of 18, obtains a high school diploma, and has functional literacy, does that really make students college ready?
College success has become a most desirable goal. However, many students struggle through college. In fact, according to the Website Ask.com, approximately 15 percent of college students receive a degree. Because I’m willing to earn a degree like many other successful students, I find that college is the stepping stone to my dream goals. I know that college is difficult, but I realize that attaining my dream of a college education will require me to understand the benefits of what I’m learning, to prepare for obstacles, to seek advice, and to create effective and reasonable strategies will help me achieve my goals.
When I go to college, I plan to take my skills, and experiences with me from High School. The skills that I have now, I plan to use them in college to better myself and develop new improved skills along the way, As well as for my talents. The experiences that I have had, I plan to take in those as well so I know what is almost expected when I get to college. When I go to college I want to be better than I am in high school and work much harder because I know college won’t be easy at all. I plan to take my skills, and experiences that I have obtained to the college campus.
Many students entering college may discover that they are not prepared for college curriculum courses. These students enter college courses facing a major issue. They find that high school has not adequately prepared them for the difficulty of college level courses. These students lacked the sufficient basis in being well equipped for advanced careers and college entry. These students have suffered a great inequality prevalent throughout high schools since several high schools do not receive equivalent aid. The unequal funding in high schools prevents students from attaining the same education that other students in different areas may receive. Unequal school funding in secondary schools causes inadequate preparation for students wanting to attend a post-secondary institution.
Currently, relatively few urban poor students go past the ninth grade. The graduation rates in large comprehensive inner-city schools are abysmally low. In fourteen such New York City Schools, for example, only 10 percent to 20 percent of ninth graders in 1996 graduated four years later. Despite the fact that low-income individuals desperately need a college degree to find decent employment, only 7 percent obtain a bachelors degree by age twenty-six. So, in relation to ...
Second chapter of this essay will demonstrate the positive effects of college education on career. College education is the key to the successful future and helps a person in building the financial security, and job security. After making an amazing reputation by graduating from a college, one can work anywhere around the world by using various skills learned from college. College education not only helps an individual to acquire job, but also makes them learn to invest their money in a reliable business. A college graduates would not have to hire a manager to manage their businesses because of the fact that they have the same knowledge to spend their earnings wisely. College education effects on a person’s career in a way that the job stability,
In the United States, many lack the skills necessary for college. Unfortunately, the education system fails to prepare some of its students for work or higher learning. Despite these circumstances, teachers and bureaucrats seek improvements to obtain higher success. In spite of the pressure for success, the current situation is not yielding the desired results. Moreover, in the recent State of the Union Address in early 2014, President Barack Obama stated the need for improved education, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM fields. Yet, what should reformers pursue? Researchers have observed recurring problems to direct the improvement of education. The information presented, particularly over the past ten years, has revealed a need to involve the students that lag the most. Education risks excluding k-12 boys and minorities, as well as remedial education collegians, in higher education.
It is often said that education should come before anything else. “Education is the most important factor in the development of the country” (“Education”). However, this is not always true in terms of the success of one’s collegiate career. Education is not every student’s top priority, and there are many ways to live successfully after college without focusing on the academic part as your top priority. Only about 30 percent of Americans complete a bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s, with another 10 percent completing an associate’s degree by then (Paulson). Not everyone’s top priority is academics, with many alternatives and goals to pursue, many people drop-out or simply stop trying and eventually flunk out. H...