Posted on 12/04/2019 3:50:12 AM PST by Kaslin
This year's education scandal saw parents shelling out megabucks to gain college admittance for their children. Federal prosecutors have charged more than 50 people with participating in a scheme to get their children into colleges by cheating on entrance exams or bribing athletic coaches. They paid William Singer, a college-prep professional, more than $25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators and to change test scores on college admittance exams such as the SAT and ACT. As disgusting as this grossly dishonest behavior is, it is only the tiny tip of fraud in higher education.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016, only 37% of white high school graduates tested as college-ready, but colleges admitted 70% of them. Roughly 17% of black high school graduates tested as college-ready, but colleges admitted 58% of them. A 2018 Hechinger Report found, "More than four in 10 college students end up in developmental math and English classes at an annual cost of approximately $7 billion, and many of them have a worse chance of eventually graduating than if they went straight into college-level classes."
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, "when considering all first-time undergraduates, studies have found anywhere from 28 percent to 40 percent of students enroll in at least one remedial course. When looking at only community college students, several studies have found remediation rates surpassing 50 percent." Only 25% of students who took the ACT in 2012 met the test's readiness benchmarks in all four subjects (English, reading, math and science).
It's clear that high schools confer diplomas that attest that a student can read, write and do math at a 12th-grade level when, in fact, most cannot. That means most high school diplomas represent fraudulent documents. But when high school graduates enter college, what happens? To get a hint, we can turn to an article by Craig E. Klafter, "Good Grieve! America's Grade Inflation Culture," published in the Fall 2019 edition of Academic Questions. In 1940, only 15% of all grades awarded were A's. By 2018, the average grade point average at some of the nation's leading colleges was A-minus. For example, look at the average GPA at Brown University (3.75), Stanford (3.68), Harvard College (3.63), Yale University (3.63), Columbia University (3.6), and the University of California, Berkeley (3.59).
The falling standards witnessed at our primary and secondary levels are becoming increasingly the case at tertiary levels. "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses" is a study conducted by Professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. They found that 45% of 2,300 students at 24 colleges showed no significant improvement in "critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years."
An article in News Forum for Lawyers titled "Study Finds College Students Remarkably Incompetent" cites a study done by the American Institutes for Research that revealed that over 75% of two-year college students and 50% of four-year college students were incapable of completing everyday tasks. About 20% of four-year college students demonstrated only basic mathematical ability, while a steeper 30% of two-year college students could not progress past elementary arithmetic. NBC News reported that Fortune 500 companies spend about $3 billion annually to train employees in "basic English."
Here is a list of some other actual college courses that have been taught at U.S. colleges in recent years: "What If Harry Potter Is Real?" "Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame," "Philosophy and Star Trek," "Learning from YouTube," "How To Watch Television," and "Oh, Look, a Chicken!" The questions that immediately come to mind are these: What kind of professor would teach such courses, and what kind of student would spend his time taking such courses? Most importantly, what kind of college president and board of trustees would permit classes in such nonsense?
The fact that unscrupulous parents paid millions for special favors from college administrators to enroll their children pales in comparison to the poor educational outcomes, not to mention the gross indoctrination of young people by leftist professors.
We would be better off if we outlawed teachers unions. If they walk off the job they can be replaced by former military.
I completely agree with you.
I think colleges should be blatant about being about pay for admittance. Pay 5 million a year and your child can go to the college. So 100 people do it, it should lower college costs for those that earn admission.
If colleges straighten up, they wouldn’t be able to produce community organizers at a rate sufficient to counter the natural impulse to be a successful self sufficient American patriot.
Here in Oklahoma, in many cases we’d be better off if they were replaced by McDonalds cashiers.
My post from a few days ago on the intimately related gross failure to pay student debt, now reahing a couple hundred Gs:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3797442/posts?page=57#57
I’ve never really understood the Admissions fraud thing.
If the college is a private entity, then who gives a flip that someone paid more to have their child attend. It’s their money and they can spend it how they wish, and if the college gets to make more money from someone with stupid kids then what business is it of ours?
I agree with the rest of the article. Most courses of study in today’s universities are useless. but robbing from those who are too stupid to realize that is not a crime. Again, the students spend their money how they wish. NOTE however that there should be no government student aid.
I honestly dont understand why this is illegal and frankly why anyone would do it when there are thousands of colleges there kids could go to, many of which are very affordable.
That’s the way it used to be, back before public school teacher unions and government-backed student college loans came into existence. But back then, when college standards for admittance and course quality were way higher, the colleges did recognize the candidate’s secondary school excellence of preparation with scholarships to get the best students who would maintain the college’s reputation. Scholarships were given based on academic merit, not “financial need.”
Poor students take up valuable instructors’ time, ruon the institution’s reputation, and drg down the rest. A lot of universities are willing to suffer this to get the money from debt-ridden graduates for years and years, using the money to build their power structure, influence, and brand identity.
What you mean is that we need fewer liberal teachers and more conservative teachers. But most conservatives flatly refuse to become teachers. So until conservatives get off their butts and stop catcalling from the sidelines and talking about what a great job they'd do if it weren't beneath them, nothing is going to change.
The common thread here is that the parents shelled out big buck and gained admission for their kids because they were "supposed" to be college athletes. Why the double standard for admission? The colleges are really the guilty parties. If athletes indeed reflected the student body and held to the same standards, this scam would be moot.
The “horror” is that it publicly exposed these elite colleges as being not so elite!
There in lies the problem.
But, we all know what that would look like even before it starts.
The FERAL effin Government.
The place where most of these BS enablers are started.
It is NOT a private entity. It is a bought and paid for Government subsidy that HAS to follow Government rules.
The problem is too many students enrolled at levels above what they are capable of, beginning with Grade 9 and getting worse every year after that.
In 1941 (we know because of draft registration) the White rate for successful completion of 12th grade was 25%. In 1941 high school was voluntary almost everywhere and failing to progress was common.
So, the natural fraction of the White population that is capable of twelfth grade work, properly defined, is probably closer to 25% that it is to 100%.
Fraud in Higher Education is just Fraud in Lower Education on methamphetamine.
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