College: Education’s Dead End

The problem with studies on college that come out of colleges is that they tend to stress the importance of higher education, even when their own data do not support that conclusion.  “By 1940, the typical 18-year-old had a high school diploma, up from just 9 percent who had achieved this milestone in 1910,” a Harvard study released this month claims. “After World War II, the GI Bill helped usher in a huge expansion in higher education.”

“As a result, members of the U. S. Baby Boom generation far surpassed their counterparts in other countries in educational attainment.” The report, Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21^st Century,  came out of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

“This surge in educational attainment laid the foundation for the staggering increase in American wealth and power that came to be known as the American Century,” Pathways to Prosperity asserts. “By 2000, per capita income, adjusted for inflation, was five to six times as large as it had been in 1900.”

The study does not show how many jobs were generated by college graduates.  By the way, education-reform.net has compiled a list of famous high school dropouts, a roster that includes such Twentieth Century luminaries as:

o   Netscape founder Jim Clark;

o   Author Leon Uris;

o   Success magazine founder W. Clement Stone;

o   News anchor Peter Jennings; and

o   Phillip Emeagwali—the man who actually helped invent the internet.

From 1973 to 2007, “While the workforce had exploded nearly 70 percent to 154 million workers, those with a high school education or less had shrunk to just 41 percent of the workforce,” according to Pathways to Prosperity. The report goes on to note that “Workers with at least some college have ballooned to 59 percent of the workforce, from just 28 percent in 1973.”

But when you only count those who earn degrees, the proportion shifts dramatically closer to the fortunate third of the early 1970s. “The underlying assumption has been that an academic, classroom-based approach is capable of preparing nearly all adolescents and young adults for success in the 21^st century,” Pathways to Prosperity goes on to observe. “While there have been marginal gains, the bottom line measure of success in college completion.”

“And on that score, we have still been unable to get more than 30 percent of young adults to earn a bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s.”  Moreover, given the report’s admission that this has occurred despite “20 years of effort, and billions of dollars of expenditures,” putting the ratios together indicates that this trend has occurred during recessions and recoveries alike.

The Harvard study is also problematic in the model solution it offers to this crisis its researchers have outlined: Vocational Education in Northern and Central Europe.

“Several countries, including Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands, have developed highly visible national youth policies that in effect create a new social compact between adult society and young people,” Pathways approvingly notes. “The message these governments deliver is that the country needs every young person to obtain at least an upper secondary diploma.”

“The government will provide as much support as necessary to help ensure that young people meet this goal, but young people must take responsibility as well. These three countries have all raised the school leaving age to 18 for students who have not completed upper secondary and they require students to participate in education or training until they have obtained a credential. Dropping out puts them or their families at risk of losing social benefits.

“These policies play out differently in each country, but the underlying philosophy

is one of “mutual obligation.” There is increasing support for such youth policies across the political spectrum in Europe.”

A final note: Part of the appeal of America for immigrants the world over has been that in America, unlike other countries, you are not born into your job. The above proposal would seem to move the United States in that latter direction.

Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.

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