School-to-Career Blog 053107

The views expressed here are Chris' and are not necessarily the same as the Wake County Public School System.

Squeeze Play: How Parents and the Public Look at Higher Education Today. - National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education

Article Highlights

	This report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and Public Agenda explores how the American public is thinking about higher education today. Are Americans pleased with the system as it exists, or are they looking for change? How is the system working from the public's point of view and from the point of view of parents whose children may soon be students?
	Americans have emphasized the importance of higher education for years, but this new research shows an increasing number of people who believe that higher education is not just desirable but, in fact, the only path to a good job and satisfying lifestyle. Access to college education is increasingly taking on the status of a necessity--the number of people who agree that college is the key to success has risen nearly 20 percentage points since 2000. In addition, overwhelming majorities see access to education as a virtual right with nearly 9 in 10 saying that the costs should not prevent qualified students from receiving a higher education. And in 2003, no less than 87 percent said that high school graduates should go to college after graduation, up eight points since 1993. Taken together, this research suggests that Americans believe that higher education is the key to being accepted as a full-fledged part of the American middle class.
	50% of Americans said that "a college education is necessary for a person to be successful in today's work world"
	87% of Americans say that "high school graduates (should) go on to college because in the long run they'll have better job prospects"
	67% of Americans "believe (that) employers are less likely to hire people without degrees even though they could do the job"
	92% of Americans said that it is likely that their oldest child will attend college after graduating high school.

Chris' thoughts -

I love these public opinion polls that get the public to respond about something they know little about. Did we think to ask the employers if having a college education makes a difference in hiring? They are the ones who make these decisions, aren't they? Instead we ask the man on the street whether college is important in obtaining a job.

The general public is scared that their kids will not be able to afford a college education and thus will not be able to get a good job, and thus will not have a happy life. Who has convinced the public that this is true? This paranoia is great for the colleges because the demand goes up, and they can rent out more lecture-hall seats. It's not great for the public's finances since we are buying more college educations than we really need.

What we need is for people to get the right education for the career they choose. This may or not include going to college. It might mean that your employer will pay for you to get a college education. Yes, many employers are doing this, but the public opinion is that we need to send our high school graduates directly into college. Why not get someone else to pay for college?

Going to college because your parents think that it will contribute to a better job does not make sense to me. Going to college because the employers with whom I want to work have told me that I need a specific college education does make sense. And having some good job prospects line up before going to college, job prospects that require the specific college program I am entering, should make me more motivated to do well in college, rather then the popular notion of going to college because it is the thing to do.

"87 percent said that high school graduates should go to college after graduation" despite the fact that the NC Employment Security Commission says that only 27.4% of all jobs in North Carolina in 2012 will require one or more years of college in order to get hired.

Whom do we believe, the employers who are deciding whom to hire, or the man on the street who thinks that a college education is the ticket to success?

The big question is why should people go to college? If it is to get a better job, then we are sending too many people to college for the number of jobs that require college work.

If we are sending our kids to college for those wonderful parental bragging rights, so we can say that "our child is a college student," then maybe that is really more important then getting the right education for your chosen career.

Well, at least that's what I'm thinking!

Chris Droessler

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