Posted on 06/14/2010 6:16:41 AM PDT by Cardhu
There's good news and bad news in a new report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy. The good news: an increasing number of low-income young adults are going to college these days. The bad news: many of those low-income students remain in poverty after they graduate.
The report (pdf) found that 47 percent of young adults whose total household income was near or below the federal poverty level were enrolled in an institute of higher education in 2008, a healthy five percent increase from 2000, and another 11 percent had earned a degree. However, about one in ten of those students “failed to immediately transcend the poverty threshold.” In other words, they passed college but college failed them.
The introduction to the report quotes President Obama's State of the Union Address from January: "[I]n the 21st century, the best anti-poverty program around is a world-class education." Apparently, and unfortunately, things don't appear to be that cut-and-dry for many impoverished young adults. Although higher education opportunities are expanding for poor populations, outcomes are not getting any better. Which raises the question: what good is a college education without a positive outcome?
There are a lot of surprising statistics in the report that are begging for explanation. (White low-income students are twice as likely as African Americans and Hispanics to remain poor after graduation? Really?) Future reports in the series, which is being funded by the Gates Foundation, will examine educational aspirations, academic preparation, movement in and between schools, and financial aid and debt burdens among low-income young adults to give all of us a better understanding of what's going on here so we can try and address the problem(s).
Even for young adults not coming from low-income backgrounds, college is expensive and may not be worth it in this economy. If we don't start improving educational outcomes for poor students, college might start to seem like a worthless pursuit for everyone – and I don't think that's a road any of us want the country to go down. Gregory S. Kienzl, director of research and evaluation at IHEP, summed it up best: "If you have a degree, you should no longer be poor."
just as long you hide her voter registration card and car keys on election day, we will be fine LOL
Thanks AAM
No. Jobs keep you out of poverty, a degree can HELP you get a good job, but you still need to go get the job and do it well enough to keep it and get promotions and such.
NO, if you have a marketable skill that people are willing to pay for, you should no longer be poor.
I have an MBA and I know that in and of itself all it's good for is to spruce up a resume. It's what I do with it that matters.
It used to be the same with credit. No credit history? No credit for you!
We're already there...
As in EEOC grade quotas, or real learning with the grades falling as they will?
This is only partly true, but it does reflect the one true difference between going to an ivy league (or equivalent) university or 'little ivy' or equivalent liberal arts college, on the one hand, and any of the literally thousands of public and private colleges that are not prestigious: what I've long described as "East Pottowottamie Teachers Normal School and State University."
That is, if one goes to 'old XX' one can (but doesn't necessarily) meet and interact with the children of the elites who have money, position, and/or prestige. Those who will inherit, or will step into the prestigious positions that require connections. And, if one does mingle with them successfully, one can end up on the edges of those circles (or even into them in rare cases) and can take advantage of these sorts of connections to rise oneself. While in the main, it's true that the average student at the top universities is more intrinsically capable, and the faculty is often 'better', the fact is that a student at almost any respectable state university or private college can get the nuts and bolts of an education every bit as good as that which can be obtained at the ivy brand institution. The only reason to pay 'ivy prices' for an education is to actually get the branded product. And even then, it's arguable, unless one takes a very rigorous curriculum and makes a conscious effort to get the most out of it socially as welly. The truly appalling spectacle is watch people pay ivy prices ($50,000+ per year) for colleges and universities that will not provide the networking opportunities and cachet that the brand name schools represent.
A traditional liberal arts education, focused on the classics (including one classical language), a modicum of mathematics and hard science, history, literature (as both were taught before the 'post-modernists set in) and at least one modern language requires solid work and gives one precise the sort of intellectual preparation for adaptable, innovative and effective leadership. Especially if combined with solid experience in team sports and social dynamics.
Much of what passes for a 'liberal arts' degree now (which includes all of the social sciences, all of the 'ethnic and gender' studies, communications, etc.) is just nonsense and fits one only to become a parasite.
Thank you SO much .... I’d been thinking about going back to college to get into economics as my managerial position is starting to require some financial calculcations / accounting / etc ....
That should be printed on every American university brochure, much like the "cancer" warning on cigarette packs.
I experienced significant professional success, nationally and internationally, without the benefit of any college degree whatsoever. Ability trumps education in all cases (except academia and government, where ability doesn't matter at all).
I'm now pursuing a PhD simply out of spite.
I remember that interview! Asked why he didn’t go out and get a better paying job instead of whining about the barista position, he whined “but I like this job!” Couldn’t understand that just because you like your job doesn’t mean anyone else is obligated to feed/house you for life.
I agree with your points, both the value of the education and that it's difficult to get in the door.
“College degrees officially jumped the shark when people spent $30K a year in tuition to qualify for a $25K a year job after they graduate. Aside from SOME BA degrees, and engineering/math/science degrees, most aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.”
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Spot on. They leave college after incurring a huge debt and still have far less than what used to be a free public high school education. Then they apply for the type of job that used to be done by a tenth grade dropout. Then if they ever work up to a thousand a week it buys less at the grocery store than the eighty a week people used to make fifty years ago straight out of public high school. Some great system we have going and it gets worse every day.
How about the kids who get a degree in “French Art”??
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That’s not anything like, “French Culture” is it?
My own career went a lot better once I realized that some people are allergic to cats and many people don't like having them walk across the table of hor devours.
bump
Then get rid of Federally-backed student loans for those majors. Actually, get rid of all of them; educational institutions will be forced by the laws of supply and demand to reduce their prices to what the market can bear and corporations will be forced to stop using college degrees as the new high school diploma.
the cap should have a sound connection to the demand for professionals in a certain discipline.
Determined by the government, eh?
That's called central planning, sir.
Affirmative Action, increasing racism towards whites, and lack of access to both private (b/c banks must lend to minority applicants with similar and lower credit scores) and government loans to start small businesses have taken their toll.
Absolutely, the white graduates are on their own.
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