Dropouts in USA

Post date: Jul 28, 2013 6:12:58 PM

The American Dream 2.0 Report

January 2013

The American Dream 2.0 report, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and endorsed by state lawmakers, college presidents, civil rights leaders, and business leaders, was released in January 2013. It says that 46% of those who enter a U.S. college fail to graduate within six years. Only 37% of African Americans graduate, only 42% of Hispanic students graduate. The report asserts that at a time when college tuitions are skyrocketing faster than income, financial aid is in decline. As a result, student loan debt is at record highs. Since 2002, student loan borrowing has doubled. It is now at $113 billion. Many students end up with large debt and no degree in the end.

The report is available at http://www.hcmstrategists.com/americandream2-0/report/HCM_Gates_Report_1_17_web.pdf

The Atlantic

March 2012

Just 56 percent of students who embark on a bachelor's degree program finish within six years, according to a 2011 Harvard study titled Pathways to Prosperity. Just 29 percent of those who seek an associate's degree obtain it within three years. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, just 46 percent of Americans complete college once they start.

Today, it's harder to earn a middle-class wage without a college degree. As the Harvard study notes, high school grads make up just 41 percent of the U.S. workforce, down from 72 percent forty years ago. All of the net job growth since the 1970s has been in occupations that require some post-secondary education, whether it's a bachelor's or an associate's degree. That demand for skills is causing more students to sign up for school than ever before, as shown in this chart from Pew.

But once they get to class, not every student is prepared. Nor do they necessarily want to be at college, or have a clear notion of what they're doing there. Although Pew finds that 40 percent of young Americans are currently enrolled, the Harvard study notes that around 70 percent will try and take at least some college courses within two years of graduating high school. The economy is screaming that they need a degree. But once on campus, they don't last.

The system is incredibly wasteful. The students who show up but never graduate require administrative and academic resources. They take up precious classroom space, shutting other students out of the courses they need to graduate on time. They incur student debt, but don't get a credential, which weighs on their own finances.

http://www.reuters.com/

March 2012

"For many young adults, the ultimate bottom line is whether the degree or credential they earn will help them secure a job," according to a 2011 Pew Research Center report, "Is College Worth It?" Financial barriers play a key role in students' decisions to drop out of college, the Pew study finds. Among adults age 18-34 who lack a bachelor's degree, two-thirds halted their education to support a family, 57 percent preferred to work and make money; and 48 percent simply couldn't afford college.