Are Too Many Students Attending College?
Are too many students attending college?
Last month, The Chronicle of Higher Education asked nine scholars to debate this contentious question. The experts' responses became one of the trade newspaper's most emailed and debated articles of the year.
Not surprisingly, the experts couldn't agree on whether too many students are attending college, but they all agreed that problems are rife in the current system because too many college students are failing.
The question is timely for a couple of reasons. The number of college-bound students has skyrocketed since the 1970s when I earned a bachelor's degree. Back then about 40% of high school seniors attended college while today seven out of 10 teenagers aim for a college degree.
President Obama is among those who would like the college-bound numbers to continue increasing. One of his goals is to double the number of college graduates. Experts who applaud Obama's efforts aren't satisfied with college enrollment numbers in large part because earning a college degree is viewed as critical to earning a decent wage. The typical college grad makes 50% more than the average high school grad.
On the surface, the push to get more students to try college sounds encouraging but the back story is depressing. Only two in five students earn a bachelor's degree within six years.
It's easier to understand these dismal numbers if you see where so many students with marginal abilities are attending school. In addition to community colleges, these students enroll primarily in less selective state universities, which don't have the resources to make sure these students experience college success.
I think the national goal should be better preparing teenagers for college so fewer of them will drop out of college with crushing student debt, but I doubt that's going to happen.
Lynn O'Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution and she also writes about college for TheCollegeSolutionBlog.