Poll: Public Blames Low Graduation Rates On Parents And Students, Not Government
I’m not sure if I agree with the conclusions here. Certainly, if a student fails to graduate that’s an individual failing. That being said, I wonder if overall low graduation rates aren’t the result of government policies that pushes too many students into college who really have no business being there.
The public pins most of the blame for poor college graduation rates on students and their parents and gives a pass to colleges, government officials and others, a new Associated Press-Stanford University poll shows.
All sectors of American higher education received high marks for quality. That extends to for-profit colleges, despite recent criticism of dubious recruiting tactics, high student loan default rates and other problems at some schools.
The belief that students are most at fault for graduation rates is a troubling sign for reformers who have elevated college completion to the forefront of higher education policy debates and pushed colleges to fix the problem, said Michael Kirst, professor emeritus of education and business administration at Stanford.
“The message is, ‘Students, you had your shot at college and failed and it’s your fault, not the college,’” Kirst said.
I agree with that final statement, but how many students are we setting up for failure by pushing into college? We subsidize higher education on both sides of the equation. We provide massive subsidies for student loans as well as massive subsidies for state-run colleges around the nation. We also have a K – 12 establishment that all but tells students that they’re bums if they don’t immediately go to college after school.
The end result is a lot of young kinds wandering into the halls of higher education institutions with big student loans and no real clue as to what they want to do with their lives. Is it any surprise that a lot of these kids don’t go on to graduate?
Tags: higher education
