- What are the most important challenges pertaining to higher education in America today?
- Which of the three leading positions (showing on the middle of the page here) do you favor the most: 1) invest in making sure all students can go to college, 2) provide opportunity for the needy, or 3) keeping tuition costs down by making colleges more efficient (or 4) do not intervene and allow the market to regulate the costs and availability of college)?
- What other choices or options regarding higher education could help train more people, improve American competitiveness, and our economy?
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
For Class on 4/17: Education in America
Outside of our families there is arguably no greater source of our political socialization than schools. And the reality of schools in America is mixed and largely troubling. Many have focussed on the falling ranking of American K-12 education with respect to the rest of the world. We will discuss some of this in class. For now, however, I would like you to focus on higher education. There is no doubt that we have a huge number of high paying jobs in America that do not have sufficiently trained Take a look at this issue guide from Public Agenda on higher edcuation. Focus in particular on the overview, and the various charts that describe the facts and public opinion. You may also want to take a look at the Obama Administration recently released college scorecard here. You can start the discussion by answer any or all of the prompts below:
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Education has always been important to humans. Gaining understanding of this material world has always been pertinent, however until recently college has always been an option. If one chose to not go to college it did not determine his/her success, it only determined what kind of job they could have (being a doctor for example). In today's society if one does not go to college they automatically have a disadvantage concerning obtaining a well paying job.
ReplyDeleteMoney is clearly the most challenging aspect (for a student/parent) when it comes to higher education. Going into debt is not how one should start their adult life.
Investing in making sure all students can go to college would be ideal, but the U.S. needs to realize that it will come at the cost of higher taxes like it is in other countries.
I fully believe that school should be "free" (meaning taxes would cover tuition). This would help Ameirca's competitiveness and boost our economy. Also, giving more information on technical schools instead of steering everyone to college would also allow for a stronger economy.
Some of the most challenging aspects of getting a higher education include not only costs and tuition rates but the strive and ambition so keep going. College is not easy and in order to succeed one has to put in the effort required to get through it all.
ReplyDeleteIn this generation and with the current status of the economy, it is more important now than ever to get a college degree in order to look forward to a successful future. For some, school seems to be out of the question due to high tuition costs. As mentioned in the above comment, people aren't willing to plunge themselves with thousands of dollars worth of debt. If there were some type of investment plan that made sure all students went to college if they desired to do so, people will finally get the chance to make something of themselves.
Attending college seems essential in order for individuals to acquire jobs in popular fields in the world today. Although cost is one of the most important challenges in higher education, I believe that lack of motivation also contributes challenges for the educational system. Popular culture’s portrayal of college tends to focus on the “party” aspect of college rather than the academics. I think one of the most pertinent challenges of higher education today is student’s neglect of opportunities in higher education, which causes extended graduation rates and larger dropout percentages. Adolescents see movies or listen to songs that praise crazy college life. Once they attend a university, some solely focus on this and do not realize their self-destruction in higher education. Of course, I’m not advocating for college students to only study and do homework; I just believe that balance is crucial and if students focus more on their learning, graduation rates will increase which might lead to more funding. Because the majority of current students do not pay for the bulk or their tuition (they tend to depend on their parents) I also believe that current students do not properly value their education as much as students who pay for the bulk of their education. This privilege adds to the extended graduation rates and dropouts. If students were more responsible for their tuition, these would decrease.
ReplyDeleteHigher education has never been as expensive as it is now. The cost of gaining a degree is staggering and contributes towards creating an unfair disadvantage to those is a lower socio-economic status seeking higher education. The idea of "making sure all students can go to collage" (option 1) is the most favorable as it provides the opportunity to at least try seeking higher education. However, the cost of tuition must be reeled in to prevent overspending if the government was to provide greater financial assistance to students. The government should only provide money to those students attending public universities. Offering high tuition reimbursement for students who are seeking STEM degrees (science, technology, engineering, and medicine). These students will most likely work in career fields that bring in business and advancements to the US economy.
ReplyDeleteThe most important challenge pertaining to higher education in America is the huge cost. In the past years average tuition rates have gone up greatly and this is having negative effects on people's efforts to obtain degrees and live a middle class life. The first option, investing to make sure all students can go to college, is the best solution. However this is expensive and in order to make sure everyone can go to college Americans will have to pay a lot higher taxes. Another option which could be beneficial to the economy is to steer more students towards things like trade school or community college which is more affordable and can still be very helpful after school with finding jobs.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe the most important challenge pertaining to higher education today is affordability. The large amount of scholarships, grants, and federal loans available for prospective students are often not enough to provide for an affordable education. These rising costs combined with the increased importance of a college degree have slowly made higher education a more pressing matter to deal with. These issues primarily stem from issues of availability. For many, it does not seem quite fair that a gifted and talented student should be robbed of higher education simply because they cannot afford it. With this in mind, I feel that providing more opportunities for the needy would be the best way to ensure that such a situation never occurs again. Although the other three options mentioned do have the potential of being successful, I feel that they do not fulfill their intended goals because we have utilized most of these options in the past. Many have invested in private scholarships for higher education by creating scholarship funds, yet we still have a problem of availability. Many schools are currently trying to make their institutions more cost efficient, yet we still have many students unable to attend college.
ReplyDeleteI think in order to reasonably assist the general public with higher education as a whole, we should utilize some sort of system by which prospective students have a trial period in college. This trial period would consist of one or two semesters of free education where the student must prove their worth in the institution by achieving a certain GPA and reflecting the general attitudes of an institution. Although this method isn't flawless, I think it would help differentiate individuals who are willing to put the time and effort to succeed in school from the ones who aren't quite yet ready to commit to their work. Many professors are more than willing to help their students to succeed, so I believe this is a somewhat decent predictor of which students should receive aid to attend school.
Education is quite possibly the most important pillar that holds up and maintains a healthy, thriving democratic society. Freedom is rooted in enlightened, diverse, free range of thought, a process which is usually only achieved through higher education. Education is the most important entity to strive for as a country progressively speaking. It is a fairly well documented political notion that the more educated a society, or nation state is (or how available the higher education is to all strains of that particular society), the greater success it has in almost every thinkable category. Sadly within that notion inlays some major problems facing American higher education. The past 3 decades, most notably the past 5 years have not been kind to college students, with affordability being an extremely distressful issue. In my opinion availability of higher education to all strains of potential students in this country (or the current lack there of)is synonymous with affordability. The exponential rise of college tuition is at a tier now where it is extremely difficult for a prospective student not of substantual wealth background cannot afford a higher form of eductation,k even if he or she has the potential, or has even earned it without taking on crippling future loan debt. Since the Reagan administration the US has shown the spotlight away from education and its time this country started to invest heavily back into its future, i.e. the higher education of the young adults of the country. I have always held the opinion that education should be near free, socialistic or not, wider spread and accessible education yields widespread, great results. Education is the only path to a brighter future for this country and we cannot keep falling behind in every educational category.
ReplyDeleteKnowledge is a tool like any other. It allows us to build better roads and make better goods. The moral worth of it does not matter to the state, but its practical effects. An educated and Literate Society is able to be more competitive in all matters from production to the arts. As such it is in the interest of the state and society and its people, in order to ensure prosperity, to provide an education to all of its members and allow for greater worker specialization. So the focus of education is to increase the base line so as the workers of Society will be more efficient in their tasks. And because society will have leaders emerge ensure that those leaders we should encourage the highest level possible for those leaders. These "leaders" should be found meritocraticly through tests, grades, or performance reviews. And that is the goal of education to ensure for the prosperity of society
ReplyDeleteObviously we need to keep college and education affordable, because we need a population of critical thinkers and innovators. We also need to focus on "non-profit" schools, because we are starting to see these businesses and corporations, opening schools. DeVry and University of Phoeniz Online are examples. They are for-profit, hire poor teachers, give a below average education, and most jobs won't hire from there... but they still have the largest student bodies in colleges around the country. People go there, because they can't afford a "real school" and their education is compromised. They are trained to be managers at sears, or mechanics, or other things - that do have their function, but college isn't simply to get someone a job, its to train and raise critical thinkers and free thinkers, to give you a well rounded education about life, so that we can live and progress civilization without being mindless drones.
ReplyDeleteTuition costs are continually on the rise as we speak. I personally believe tuition costs are the biggest challenge to kids attending college today. College has become so expensive to where even with scholarships and grants it is still not enough to cover everything. I believe college should be free for any household with a combined income under 1 million dollars. Now, I understand for this to work our taxes would have to go up. I think in the future this will be good for the economy; it will create millions of jobs because you will have more kids going to school, graduating and entering the work force post-graduation. I think the thought of accumulating thousands of dollars worth of debt is what discourages many of our kids from going to college. Most people do not want to amass a huge amount of debt and still not be guaranteed a job when they graduate. If education is as important to this country as they claim it is, they will make college affordable for everybody.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the biggest challenge in higher education is the tuition cost. So many people do not have an opportunity to attend the college of their choice, or any college at all, because they cannot afford it. Most people have to take out loans which causes the students to have a large debt once they are finished with their education. Also in today's society, the lack of a college degree limits your career opportunities and possibilities to succeed. I believe that there should be more of an investment in making sure that everyone who wants to go to college has the opportunity to do so. I also think there should be a larger part of this investment given to people of lower incomes. This would allow more people to attend college which could benefit the whole country.
ReplyDeleteFinancial impediments are one of the most important challenges American higher education faces today. The cost of education continues to rise while many salaries remain the same. This problem is most endemic within the lower class levels of American society who typically live paycheck-to-paycheck working multiple minimum wage jobs without benefits such as health insurance. Families coping with circumstances such as these are unable to attend private universities without some sort of financial assistance. Unfortunately, the route of opting for in-state public tuition is gradually becoming less viable as the cost of public education continues to rise dramatically. The affordability of in-state tuition varies on a case-by-case basis. For example, the University of Iowa offers in-state tuition at roughly $7,000-8,000 per year. However, the University of Illinois-Urbana offers in state tuition at roughly $20,000 per year making it difficult for struggling lower class families to afford in-state tuition rates. Due to the trends in rising tuition costs at both the public and private level, many students enroll at community colleges for two years to complete their general electives, and then transfer to a university.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the main problems that exist with higher education is not only the failing school systems and budget cuts that are ravaging the country, but also the very attitude surrounding higher education. It seems to me that most kids these days finishing up high school have absolutely no drive to continue on to a higher education school which can open up numerous opportunities for them later in life. Kids today are getting lazy especially with the tech boom of the 90's and the now "online" culture that has developed not only in regular adults but in young kids as well. Over the second half of the 20th century we saw a rise in college attendance as different minority groups were getting civil rights and the government was attempting to subsidize education to make it a more graspable goal for some of the less fortunate people in our country. The GI bill allowed tons of soldiers to have opportunities in careers that they could never even DREAM of before that was passed. So while there has been a recent influx of new students into higher education schools, i feel as if we are almost reaching the peak of that. Kids are becoming lazy and with that, the drive to attend four more years of schooling after they have completed high school is fading quickly. I think that while there are a plethora of changes and improvements that need to be made to the schools, the kids themselves might need some changes and improvements as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that almost everyone would agree that the cost of higher education is way to high, especially when we add in costs for textbooks, housing, and especially at DePaul, transportation. DePaul has a mission to take in students of every sort of background. I also believe that everyone that wants to go to college should be able to, which means somehow we need to make education more affordable or offer more governmental help. In a world today where college graduates are working for minimum wage, there cannot be the mounds of student loan debt that graduates deal with today. However I do believe that if students want the financial help to go to college they should be held accountable for their work, just as students who receive academic scholarships are held accountable by minimum GPA requirements.
ReplyDeleteLike many others on this blog, the rising cost of tuition and the idle growth of middle and lower class' salaries is our nation's greatest problem for higher education. College has become almost a necessity to succeed in the finical world today, but with the rising cost of tuition and with no gain in salaries for many, this necessity has become extremely difficult for many Americans to achieve. It has become increasingly difficult to receive finical aid, whether it be in a scholarship or from the state. While the finical issue is the greatest, preparing kids for college has become an issue. In high school I took many honors and Advance Placement courses. With exception of one class, calculus, the rest were never taken seriously as "college courses". The course material was not up to a college level and the teachers teaching them did not hold the students up to college standards. It seemed more like a joke that they were being called college preparatory courses.
ReplyDeleteIf I continue to use the amount of loans I receive now, by the time I graduate, I will have roughly $80,000 to pay back to the government. And that's just for my undergraduate degree. When I chose to come to DePaul (a leap from my home in Nashville, TN), I knew that the financial burden would be a huge one. Luckily for me, my parents put my happiness first. For many other students, however, this option is not a viable one. So many students who wish to achieve a bachelor's degree have to "settle" in terms of where they go to college. The cost of going to college (especially a private university) is rising and will continue to rise. And soon it might even become difficult for students to attend cheaper, public universities because of this. Unfortunately, by giving more money to these state universities, the rest of the education system has a risk of suffering. I believe the biggest challenge we, as a country, have, then, is to decide whether to ensure more people can go to college, or make it so a college degree is not as necessary in the working world.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs many others have already mentioned, I believe one of the major challenges of higher education in the United States is the cost. Tuition is always increasing and it is becoming basically impossible for a student straight out of college to pay for college alone. They will either need a scholarship or be forced to take out student loans which creates a whole new challenge. Based on readings from another class, there is a student loan crisis in the U.S. right now that places college graduates in a very difficult position. Jobs are scarce and students are graduating with a large amount of debt. For some, the debt they incurred from student loans was not worth the education they got and the job they received as a result. It was estimated that in 2012 the was about 2 million college-eligible students that did not attend a college simply because they could not afford it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as what we can do to improve the situation, I think the country needs a combination of the first two points made. I believe everyone should be given an equal opportunity to go to college. If students don't work hard in high school, I don't think they should automatically be given a shot at college. However, I think that if there is hard work in primary and secondary education, that the opportunity should be given to those students. I don't there should be a system that oddly allows EVERYONE to go to college, but the opportunity should be there for those who work hard, no matter what their financial situation may be.
The most important challenge’s concerning higher education in American are the fallowing six steps
ReplyDelete1) PREPARATION- Preparing high school students for college and the independent responsibility that comes with it. The most important part is reforming high schools curriculum, without that you’re just building on a weak foundation.
2) PARTICIPATION- We can not be in denial when it comes to the low numbers of minorities who are enrolling in college’s, it is a waste of human capital. 3) COMPLETION- For those already in college help them finish school, we need to prevent crucial talents going to waste.
4) AFFORDABILITY- College should be accessible to all parts of society; we cannot say everyone has the same accessibility and opportunity when in contrast a significant amount of the population forgo college because they can not afford it. 5) EDUCTION- We need to filter what is being taught, how its being taught and where its being taught. What is being taught is important because children need to develop their brains at an early age, how its being taught depends on qualified teachers and organized curriculum to which is being taught. And lastly where it’s being taught because everyone has the right to learn in a safe environment. 6) SHARED RESPONSIBILITY- The most important step is that parents need to take part in their children's education.
You have to reform the education system before trying to fix it. Einstein said "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them"
I believe that the biggest challenges facing higher education today is keeping up to date with a society and a culture that is always evolving. Viewing through my own lens as a CDM major, I already know that much of the things I am learning right now will likely be obsolete in ten years simply because technology advances very quickly. While not all fields change as often, more and more is being required to effectively get ahead in today's marketplace. In addition, other countries are becoming more and more competitive in their education programs, and often times they value education more than Americans do. For example, in Korea, teachers are oftentimes some of the highest paid workers in the labor force, making 221% of the country's GDP per capita compared to America's teachers who make 96%. These teachers are quite respected amongst the country as they are the ones training the next generation.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/teacher-pay-around-the-world/
The most important challenge facing higher education is the cost. College has become extremely expensive; students have to take out large loans, which will take a large portion of their life to pay off. Being in a hundred thousand dollars of debt, or more, after graduation makes buying a home, a car, and other large purchases impossible for young people in America. These large purchases are important for the American economy and with future generations being unable to make these purchases the economy will most likely suffer.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many, if any, non-essential employees and/or services are contributing to the rise in costs of higher-education tuition. It seems, in some ways, that programs and services utilized by some (not necessarily a majority or even a substantial amount of students) raises tuition rates for all. To what extent I cannot say.
ReplyDeleteIn a competitive global economy, it is essential that we, as a nation, seriously invest in higher education and technical training for our young people. Wow, that sounded like I'm getting to run for office. It's true though. Competition necessities productivity and efficiency. I think "trusting" the market is a naive or even malicious approach however. Pure market capitalism is corrupted very easily. The government must take a strong approach to incentivize and regulate the expansion of technical training schools and programs by industries and businesses. They will be the benefactors as well in training workers. There should also be a push for higher quality and more resourced community colleges. I think the standard for all Americans should be at least a 2-year college degree.
When I read the first prompt, I was planning on writing an entry arguing that very high costs are the biggest problem in American higher education. When I looked at the loan default rate for two accredited universities, though, DePaul University and the University of Northern Iowa, the loan default rates were 4.4% and 4.2%, respectively. I also thought it was interesting that these two numbers were pretty close to the unemployment rate of college graduates, which was reported by BLS as 3.8% in March of 2013. After thinking about those numbers, I'm more inclined to argue that cost is not a big issue, as long as students are able to pay off the loans and are still gaining from the educational investment. I should note though, that the default numbers from DPU and UNI were significantly lower than the national loan default percentage, 13.4%.
ReplyDeleteI think that a big issue facing higher education is the potential for the societal perception of the value of a 4-year degree to diminish in the future. It seems like a lot of advisers and administrations at universities (at least in my experience) often express the thought that "everyone has a bachelor's". I don't think the numbers support this, but if that is the perception in general, that's enough to push people to go on to even further education. There has to be a point where the marginal benefit from more (formal) education is simply not worth the cost, and I think the biggest risk to higher education may be pushing towards that direction where the next generation of the workforce is developing with the thought that it is necessary to "over-invest" in their education, or get more education than would be marginally beneficial.
I think one of the biggest challenges is motivating students to not just go to school, but be active participants. I have so many younger cousins who just are uninterested or not sufficiently challenged. I also have heard countless stories where kids not only feel unsafe going to school, particularly in urban areas, but of kids whose travel time to school is difficult, especially in rural areas. Then, once the kids get to the school, keeping their interest and motivation strong is a difficult task. As far as which position I agree with, I think it is providing opportunities for the needy. Going back to my original post, it is typically the underprivileged children who struggle not only getting to school, but being engaged in school. These are two major problems that society must work to overcome.
ReplyDeleteGetting a higher education has always been a major part of the American dream. America has the best university system in the country and it is a huge draw for immigrants who want to come here. It is because of this that I believe that a higher education should be made much easier for all students in this country and the government should be making further strides to make it more affordable to a greater portion of the population. A college degree simply isn't worth what it once was. It used to mean that to get your bachelor's degree or a grad school degree that you would more often then not have a job waiting for you after college. These days the job market is so bad that is no longer the case and more people who have earned their college degrees are in jobs that do not truly reap the benefits of that higher education. I do not believe there is another way to prove that a person is worthy of that great job other than getting a college degree of some kind. There is just no other way for an employer to figure out whether or not someone has the skills and capabilities necessary to perform at his or her job
ReplyDeleteSince most people are talking about affordability and money issues-- which truly are some of the biggest obstacles facing our country's education, there are also other issues in play.
ReplyDeleteStudies are consistently showing that there are a lot of jobs available, but there isn't a sufficient amount of people trained in these skills to employ the necessary people. Trade and skilled labor jobs are open to a lot of people right now, but too few people are choosing to go that route and instead think that they have to choose between a 4 year college or their high school degree-- this is simply untrue.
As the tax and spend liberal thinker that I have come to be, I definitely see schools as lacking proper government funding. The market doesn't have a business in education and treating school like a business is not fair for the students. Allowing the market to decide who gets an education will only allow the illness of America's developing aristocracy to spread. An uninformed and uneducated public helps no one-- not the government and certainly not the populace. It's no secret why European schools are consistently outscoring those in the US-- they aren't afraid to properly fund their education. Providing help to educational institutions is an investment in the future, not reckless spending.