By 2020, about two-thirds of employment opportunities in the US will require the applicants to possess post-secondary documents or some form of training that supersedes high school education (Deming, Cohodes, Jennings & Jencks, 2016). However, the current trend in college drop-outs appears to reduce the effectiveness of the U.S to show competitiveness in the global education index. Minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics have lower graduation rates than the Whites. Although the numbers of entries into college have increased lately, the existing disparities in education have diminished college-graduation rates. For instance, racial minorities are largely underrepresented in the colleges and institutions of higher learning (Winters,
Every parent wants their child to go to college in order to gain a higher level of learning, but is this truly the best option? In recent years, many have begun to question whether or not a college education is necessary in today’s world. It’s not. College is not worth its cost because of its financial burdens, lack of teaching hands on experience, and its very particular methods that don’t work with some people.
Many people find the higher education a child receives, the higher the amount of money he or she will earn. Others find it is a waste of time and money to go to college after high school because of all the loans they would have to make up for after college. Many people have different point of views regards to the importance of college. In the articles Is College Worth It? and Why College Isn’t for Everyone, Leonhardt and Matthews have different opinions on the importance of college. Leonhardt argues that college is worth it because one who earns a college degree will be financially stable in the end, while Matthews believes that college isn’t for everyone because of the high-cost teenagers and adults will encounter when it comes to tuitions and fees.
The greatest country in the world still has problems evenly distributing education to its youth. The articles I have read for this unit have a common theme regarding our education system. The authors illustrate to the reader about the struggles in America concerning how we obtain and education. Oppression, politics, racism, and socioeconomic status are a few examples of what is wrong with our country and its means of delivering a fair education to all Americans.
Tough depicts the college conundrum as a prevalent matter in America’s higher education system, and investigates the cause of this national phenomenon. He describes the college conundrum when he states, “Why are so many American students dropping out of college just as a college degree has become so valuable and just as young people in the rest of the world have begun to graduate in such remarkable numbers?” (Tough 150). He illustrates the disturbing trend of an exponential growth in college dropouts rates in America, even when a bachelor’s degree is seen as a valuable asset, and graduation rates in other countries have considerably risen in comparison. Subsequently, Tough sought to uncover the root causes for this complication. As a result,
The idea of freedom and equal opportunity that America was built on has sadly been lost and replaced with a system of quality education only being accessible by the wealthy. In-state college tuition should be free for all students meeting admission requirements, allowing students from the full spectrum of economic backgrounds to have the same opportunity to receive the same education. The incidence of poverty in the U.S. is directly linked to educational level. When a college degree is earned, income levels rise (College Board). The best use of federal government anti-poverty funds is not another welfare or assistance program; it is to make college education affordable for everyone.
A key to ending the cycle of poverty, is educational equity. In America today, public education is unequal racially and socioeconomically (Honda 11). Internationally, America is not excelling academically. When looking closely at American student’s Program for
While overall college enrollment and graduation rates have risen for all minority groups, there continues to be concerns for this segment of the population, particularly for African American students. Even though there have been significant increases in enrollment and graduation figures over the past several decades, issues concerning retention persist. About 30 percent of African Americans who enroll in college drop out prior to degree completion (Rye, 2009). This is further documented by Museus (2011) who reports that less than one-half of minority students who begin college at a 4-year institution achieve a degree within 6 years. This is significant since college retention has been linked with both self-efficacy and future academic success (Brittain, Sy, & Stokes, 2009).
“We caution institutional leaders who celebrate their graduation rate gains to take a good look at their data and ask whether they are doing enough to get more African American, Latino, and Native students to graduation and to close completion gaps,” said Kimberlee Eberle-Sudré, Ed Trust’s higher education policy analyst and co-author of the report. “The answer for many institutions is, ‘No.’ Fewer than half of the institutions we analyzed raised rates for their underrepresented students and cut gaps. Institutions can and must do more to serve URM students.”
The gap between the nation’s best and worst public schools continues to grow. Our country is based on freedom and equality for all, yet in practice and in the spectrum of education this is rarely the case. We do not even have to step further than our own city and its public school system, which many media outlets have labeled “dysfunctional” and “in shambles.” At the same time, Montgomery County, located just northwest of the District in suburban Maryland, stands as one of the top school systems in the country. Within each of these systems, there are schools that excel and there are schools that consistently measure below average. Money alone can not erase this gap. While increased spending may help, the real problem is often rooted in the complex issues of social, cultural, and economic differences. When combined with factors involving the school itself and the institution that supports it, we arrive at what has been widely known as the divide between the suburban and urban schools. Can anything actually be done to reverse this apparent trend of inequality or are the outside factors too powerful to change?
Community colleges play an important role in providing students access to higher education, and serve as an entryway of opportunity for many minority students (Boswell, 2004; Suarez, 2003; Trujillo & Diaz, 1999). Latinos currently account for 12.5% of the U.S. population and are the fastest growing component of the population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). Community colleges enroll approximately 50% of Latino students in higher education, a number that continues to grow each year (Fry, 2002; Suarez, 2003). Scholars report that Latinos are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group to enroll in community colleges (Fry, 2002; Kurlaender, 2006; Martinez & Fernández, 2004; Suarez, 2003). These demographics show
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...
“Education is the pathway to success.” This is what my teachers, parents, and peers told me growing up. I knew that if I wanted to better my life, I would need to get a college education. I am thankful to have the opportunity to attend a university and receive a high-quality education. Unfortunately, many students do not have the chance to get an education past secondary school. Many of these students are undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants can get a public-school education for grades K through 12, but when it is time to get an education that will lead to social mobility, they are not afforded the privilege. A college education is now essential to becoming successful in the United States – a high school degree is not enough, but for immigrants who yearn to make a living for themselves in the United States, they have limited options in regards to education. Torres and Wicks-Asbun (2014)
Dropout rates amongst the minority have historically always been lower than those of Asians and non-Hispanic Whites. These rates were especially low in low-income and rural areas. But, current dropout rates are fairly low in the United States for Hispanics, Whites and African Americans. Although Hispanics still have the highest dropout rates, they reached an all time low with 14% in 2013 where the highest was 32% in 2000. Dropout rates are also low among African American students now at 8%. (Fry,
Develop an argument on or some ideas of understanding about curriculum as multicultural text by relating the works of Darling-Hammond, French, & Garcia-Lopez, Delpit, Duarte & Smith, Greene, Nieto and Sletter to your experience of curriculum, teaching, and learning as affirming diversity. You could think specifically about the following questions: Is there a need for diversity in curriculum studies and designs? Why? What measures do you think will be effective in incorporating such a need into curriculum studies and designs? What is the relevance of diversity to your career goal, to education in your family, community, and school, to education in Georgia, and to education in general? In which way can you develop a curriculum which helps cultivate empathy, compassion, passion, and hope for citizens of the world, and which fosters social justice?
For many years, higher education has been a helpful tool for those looking to have a professional career, and now, it seems that getting a degree is almost necessary. In our present day it is nearly impossible to get a job without graduating college and that is why a higher education is considered to be the most valuable investment for Americans. College is so valuable because it lowers your risk of unemployment while giving you the opportunity to have your future potential earnings increased. Many Americans don’t go to college because they can’t afford it or they fear that college just isn’t the right fit for them and others don’t’ enroll because they are lazy. These problems could possibly all be erased by making all citizens in America legally required to move on to at least a two year institution at the very minimum upon the graduation of high school. Having community college tuition-free will eliminate any financial excuses against college being required for all US citizens. Alan Bloom believes “Education is the movement of darkness to light”. Bloom is trying to convey that education can help you get through the roughest of times and to help make something of yourself. College is a place for exploration and finding out who you are and what you want to be.