Great news—high school graduates are getting smarter. They are no longer automatically going to college. Some are getting a real education, preparing for the future, getting jobs and careers. At the same time, their friends are learning to hate, bully others and learn to be bigots.
“Perhaps more troublingly, the American public is becoming disenchanted with education’s promise to transform lives, if recent surveys are to be believed. With each year, more people – especially young Americans still paying off their college loans – are saying that the cost of college is too high, the debt burden is too crushing, and the payoff isn’t worth it. More and more Americans, in other words, are rejecting higher education’s value proposition.
American higher education should view this belief as an existential threat. To ensure their long-term survival, most colleges and universities – all but a handful of ultra-selective and wealthy institutions – will be forced to confront fundamental questions about the value of what they do.
These kids understand it is of no value to learn America was founded by racists, people of some color are, by DNA, oppressors and others by DNA, superior. They can learn that at UCLA or a KKK meeting. Glad to see some high school graduates have more common sense than most Cal Berkeley students.
College Enrollment is Down – But There’s a Silver Lining
By Adam Wray, Real Clear Education, 7/11/22
More than two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment at American colleges and universities is continuing to plummet. College enrollment had been falling by about 1% each year for a decade before the pandemic, but COVID-19 accelerated that trend. In the past two years, more than 1 million students have walked away from higher education. Public universities, private colleges, community colleges, and graduate schools are all getting hit.
There’s no shortage of speculation as to where students are going. The pandemic and a robust job market have siphoned off more students in the short term. In the long term, experts are projecting a decade-long decline in high school graduation rates that will leave colleges with a shrinking pool of students to draw from.
Perhaps more troublingly, the American public is becoming disenchanted with education’s promise to transform lives, if recent surveys are to be believed. With each year, more people – especially young Americans still paying off their college loans – are saying that the cost of college is too high, the debt burden is too crushing, and the payoff isn’t worth it. More and more Americans, in other words, are rejecting higher education’s value proposition.
American higher education should view this belief as an existential threat. To ensure their long-term survival, most colleges and universities – all but a handful of ultra-selective and wealthy institutions – will be forced to confront fundamental questions about the value of what they do.
Quantifying higher education in terms of skills and outcomes will become increasingly critical in the years ahead. Traditionally, colleges and universities have struggled to articulate the value of what they teach in the classroom and on campus. But students and employers will pay for value – that is, affordable educational experiences and academic credentials that lead to meaningful employment for graduates and that create talent for companies.
For that reason, it’s essential that higher education can demonstrate – and students and companies can see – a high return on educational investment. The institutions that do the best job of quantifying skills and creating more transparency around return on investment will be the ones best able to attract students.
