Why the United States Needs College Graduates

According to The Undereducated American, a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce:

• The United States has been under-producing college-educated workers for decades. From 1915 to 1980, supply grew in tandem with demand. But, starting in 1990, the share of college-educated young people in the workforce rose very slowly.

• The under-supply of post-secondary-educated workers has led to both inefficiency and inequity

• The nation must add 20 million post-secondary-educated workers by 2025 to increase productivity and reverse income inequality, or run the risk of becoming the global leader in income inequality.

Savings Account and College Retention

According to the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, students with savings accounts in their name — regardless of the amount saved — are six times more likely to attend and remain in college compared to their peers without savings.

I recently created a series of scenarios for foster care youth (independent living activities) in which unexpected events catapoulted them into "crisis mode" -- and, in each scenario, if they had budgeted ahead of time in order to maintain a savings account, this would have saved them money and stress in the long run.

Finishing the First Lap: The Cost of College Dropouts

Finishing the First Lap: The Cost of First-Year Student Attrition in America’s Four-Year Colleges and Universities revealed that, over the past five years:

• States appropriated almost $6.2 billion to colleges and universities to help pay for the education of students who did not return to school for a second year.

• States gave over $1.4 billion to support students who did not return to their college or university for a second year.

• The Federal government provided over $1.5 billion in grants to support students who did not return for a second year.

• In Ohio, the cost for college freshmen who dropped out after their first year in college was $300 million.

Chancellor Eric Fingerhut, of the Ohio Board of Regents, views this issue as top priority:

“The goal is not to enroll people. The goal is to graduate them. Freshman to sophomore retention is key to the graduation rate. We are totally committed to it.”

College Completion Crisis

The College Board has recently released its College Completion Agenda 2010 Progress Report.

The 2008 report Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American Future by the Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education revealed that the number of students who completed college and high school in the United States had dropped dramatically,

In response, a set of 10 recommendations were made, in order to help boost the graduation rate.

Additionally, the State Policy Guide created by the College Board and National Conference of State Legislatures. This resource includes a variety of recommendations, including the College Completion Agenda.

The commission’s goal, to achieve a rate of 55 percent of young adults receiving a postsecondary credential by 2025, will continue to be measured on a regular basis.