Comparative analysis of the History of Education in the United States on a Global Scale
AMERICA’S FAILURE: EDUCATION COLLAPSE IN THE UNITED STATES
Comparative analysis of the History of Education in the United States on a Global Scale
Ariunaa Dashtsogt
VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Postsecondary education has long been thought of as a way to bring career and economic benefits to individuals. In the current day and age, postsecondary education is much more. In most societies, better critical thinking skills, and the best careers, checks, and communication skills are excellent qualities to have. Earning a graduate degree is an excellent path to enhancing these skills. Education not only impacts us at the individual level, but at a societal and national level as well. This happens through the application of a variety of cultural, religious, linguistic, and educational backgrounds among people. This study explores the effects of the cost of education, the lack of educational funding from the US government, and the students’ perception of a graduate degree on the future of the American workforce. The purpose of this study defines how the United States prepares its next generation for the knowledge-driven world; in addition, how American young adults view education. The question is: does the U.S. education system prepare a competitive, innovative, and creative workforce for society or is the U.S. failing to educate its children?
The literature on this subject identifies how rising the cost of education and magnanimous increase in student loans hits middle class families hard, while they struggle with their low-income salaries and unsecure job markets. This research uses qualitative methods in assessing how American millennials see their future – with a degree or without a degree, and begs the question: do millennials favor experience and skills over earning a graduate degree? The research aims to demand having an efficient government policy and action towards postsecondary education and training programs in every local, state, and Federal Government level as it is threating the national security of the United States.
Key words: public and higher education, rising cost, student loan, middle class, PISA test
Introduction and Background Information
General Statement
Harvard President Drew Faust closed his commencement speech in 2011 by stating, “Universities are among humanity’s greatest innovations. Through universities we find a better future, where our graduates, their children and the greater global community may lead lives of peace, prosperity and purpose in the centuries to come,” (Harvard President Drew Faust, 2011).We see higher education today as a fundamental generator of the technology, innovation, imagination, and creativity. These innovations develop education credentials along the way while being one of the most powerful forces in higher education. This research asks the question of whether the United States is ready to compete with the world by providing equally an educated and qualified society.
The comparative study also examines how educational perception between American and Asian students makes differences when it comes to education. Finally, this research analyzes how rising higher education costs affect hardworking American families as the wealth gap between the top earners and middle-class expands dramatically.
Problem Statement
The United States has dominated global higher education for decades, taking all top-five spots in the global rankings. However, according to a study released by the Pew Research Center,57 percent of Americans say the higher education system in the United States fails to provide a good value for the money students and their families spend, and about 4 in 10 college presidents say the system is headed in the wrong direction.
The United States spends more than twice as much on tertiary education as its counterparts in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), yetAmerican students lag behind their international peers in science, math, and reading, resulting in being rated lower than those nations at the OECD, according to the Education Week (February 17, 2015).
The United States is one of the most developed countries with a high per capita income. Despite this, 72% of Americans believe that most people today cannot afford to pay for a college education, according to Pew, a nonpartisan "fact tank" that produces sweeping surveys of this kind.
Purpose
Merriam Webster defines education as “the knowledge, skill, and understanding that you get from attending a school, college, or university” (para. 2). Education brings everything together and gives people a better understanding of their communities, governments, galaxies, cells, eras, and so on. Furthermore, higher education makes human lives matter as it allows them to become better citizens and to build a better world.
The goal of this research is to make education valuable across the country and give equal opportunities to every student through an affordable, quality, and fair educational system. So many smart, and talented students cannot get the high quality of education they need simply because their parents cannot afford it due to their own financial burdens.
Another purpose of this study was to assure that every student in America has access to education regardless of where they grow up. The United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its role as a supreme power, finds the new Council on Foreign Relations –Sponsored Independent Task Force report on U.S. Education Reform and National Security.
This research has compared how other nationalities, particularly, in some of Asian and European countries, are making higher education affordable for their citizen.
Research Questions
- Q: Does the United States conduct a report regarding both the strengths and weaknesses of American education?
- Q: How does the United States government spend on K-12 education in comparison with the international average?
- Q: How does the United States support postgraduate education?
Develop Hypothesis
Ho: Big budget spending on education will help guarantee the quality of the students’ performances in a global test
H1: Big budget spending on education will NOT help a quality of the students’ performances in a global test
Ho: Good experience and skills are important than having a graduate degree in American society.
H1: Good experience and skills are NOT important than having a graduate degree in American society.
Theoretical Frameworks
John Stuart Mill was an innovator on the philosophy of school choice. He favored government-supported universal education by considering everybody should go to school. School choice bridges the gap where children receive a decent or poor quality of education as well as returns education to its American roots by empowering all parents, regardless of economic circumstances, with the freedom and opportunity to choose a better education for their children.
University of Chicago economist, Milton Friedman developed the Market Theory of School Choice or Competition Theory. He believed that government intervention in free markets must be limited. Harvard University Professor Paul E. Peterson defines Friedman’s theory as the most powerful of the theories. Friedman believed that government would give each child through his parents a specified sum to be used solely for paying for a general education. The parents would be free to spend the sum at a school of their own choice, provided it met certain minimum standards. The result would bring a healthy increase in the variety of education institutions available and in competition among them.
The Political Theory of School Choice is another leading framework. Developed by John Chubb and Terry Moe, this theory posits that schools perform at their best when they have the autonomy and flexibility to pursue a clear mission. It was quite different from Friedman's Market Theory of School Choice, as professor Paul explained, “If schools are privately owned, and not owned by the government, they have the autonomy to focus on their central mission, educating students. But when the government runs the schools, politics necessarily intrudes – which let the education mission is subordinated to political factors and the employees acquire political power by voting in elections and financing candidates for school board elections. Other special interest groups also lobby on behalf of their special concerns, and persuade schools to adopt specific rules that address their special needs. In the end, you have a school that's more concerned about compliance with regulations than with teaching students,” Paul says.
Expected Outcome
The research will determined what it takes to have an affordable higher education system in the United States as it will allow considerable support through education of its students. This study will be expecting the government to lower interest rates in the student loan debt, while universities admit more students by awarding more affordable/free education and services. The study also predicts that it is possible for America to forgive all existing student loans, as well as relief in terms of student debt in order to obtain a social cohesion that makes America strong.
This research is expecting that the United States needs to further hold schools accountable: reforming the teaching profession, and encouraging parents’ involvement. This research also anticipating Common Core State Standards inspire cutting-edge curricula in order to eliminate the traditional memorize-the-facts approach. This advanced research will be pointing out that it would be pointless if America does not make education as a national priority. In order to do so, promoting the value of higher education among young adults, strengthen the students’ performances nationwide and globally, and allowing citizens to have an affordable access to higher education are significantly important.
LITERATURE REVIEW
History of U.S. Education
In the United States, education has primarily been a State and local responsibility. This is the kind of units of local government which has an authority to spend money, employee teachers and staff, in addition collect taxes. It is States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and graduation (The Department of Education, 2014). Unlike Europe and Asia, schools in the U.S. are traditionally controlled by their local districts.
The idea of school districts and school boards come from England and Scotland. “Both countries were a byproduct of the Protestant Reformation, and they believed that everybody should read the Bible, and in order to read the Bible you had to learn how to read. So they set up a similar system here in America’s colonial period (Harvard Review, 2015)
The history of education in the United States covers the trends in educational philosophy, policy, institutions, as well as formal and informal learning in America from the 17th century to today. In 1642, first education law enacted by Massachusetts General Court requiring parents and guardians of children to “make certain that their charges could read and understand the principles of religion and the laws of the Commonwealth”. In year of 1749, Benjamin Franklin founded a private academy (a private secondary school) that offers a practical curriculum of a variety of subjects and useful skills.
By the mid-1800s, many such private academies came to exist, offering a wide array of curricula and courses ranging from traditional Latin and Greek to very practical, utilitarian studies (Market Education: The Unknown History, 1999) In the early 1990s, a majority of children, ages 6 to 13, enrolled in government elementary schools, in the meantime, the first public junior high school was established in Berkeley, California, in 1909.
In the United States there is no official definition of what entitles an institution to be considered a university versus a college, and the common understanding of university has evolved over time (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911). It’s raised a question about the true "age" of some institution. For instance, both Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania claim to be the first university in the United States. According to the website information, Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States, (established 1636), by contrast, the University of Pennsylvania considers itself as the first American institution of higher education to be named a university (1779).
The original Department of Education was created in 1867 to collect information on schools and teaching that would help the States establish effective school systems, however, the official U.S. Department of Education was established in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter, to improve the quality of education nationwide. It administers programs in elementary and secondary education, higher education, vocational and adult education, special education, bilingual education, civil rights, and educational research. U.S. Department of education is committed to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access (Mission statement, ED, 2015).
Current Challenges in Public Schools
It is more likely for a minority student or a student from a low-income family to attend a charter schools across America. Over 40 states permit charter schools where the average per pupil expenditure 28% (approximately $3,500) lower than public schools. While over 90% of American students attend public schools, 8 percent of the students belong to voucher schools. In addition, 2 percent of students attend very expensive elite schools. And again, public schools are predominated on funding, at approximately $8,000 higher than voucher schools, per student, per year.
Whether it is a charter, voucher, or public school, both school choice and the culture of the education system have strongly been criticized by some of the most distinguished scholars around the world. “We are not forced to go to a particular dry cleaner, a supermarket, or a gas station. But we are forced to go to a public school, and that's not fair. We need a true open market in the public education,” an unnamed scholar at Harvard University says. In other words, everyday Americans are forced to send their children a school no matter how unfulfilling a place it may be. For instance, Dr. Paul E. Peterson, director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, predicts that today’s failing system will likely to transform over the next 10-30 years by giving the opportunity for people to choose what they want to consume.
U.S. students fail in math, reading, and science test globally
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It measures math, science, and reading performance of 15-year-old students worldwide every three years. The tests are a mixture of open-ended and multiple-choice questions that are organized in groups based on a passage setting out a real-life situation. (OECD report, 2015) In 1990, President Bush promised, "by the year 2000, US students must be the first in the world in math and science achievement." However, when 2000 arrived, and out of 27 nations, the US ranked 18th in mathematics, 14th in science, and 15th in reading literacy.
And by the arrival of 2012 out of 65 countries, Americans were further outperformed by many of their counterparts in Asia and Europe, placing 24th in reading, 36th in math, and 28th in science. Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong top all three categories followed by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Finland. In math, American students are even placing below the international average, which is staggering.
Condoleezza Rice, the former U.S Secretary of State warns “Educational failure puts the US’ future economic prosperity, global position, and physical safety at risk. Because human capital will determine power in the current century, and the failure to produce that capital will undermine America’s security.”
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Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1. U.S. students lag behind international peers |
Every parent and education should be anticipating that these double digit rankings should be changed for the better. Though the U.S. government expressed that PISA tests are very reliable among OECD countries and worldwide, they have not yet done anything significantly toward American children’s achievement to surpass their counterparts globally. “It’s not about US government or people anymore. Its conservatives and liberals. They are putting their ideas/lobbies ahead of the national priorities and national needs. State and federal governments are continually cut the funds for education, science, and research, which makes those sectors a less valuable and productive,” says, John, one of the IT specialists in D.C area.
American 15-year-old students placed lower than industrial average in PISA test. This tells us that there is are complications concerning to the nation’s educational attainment. It raises so many questions, not least of all: if American young adults are not ready to compete with today’s technology-and-knowledge-driven world, and if early childhood education is not fully developed, and if U.S. public school system does not educate our children well and provides a poor quality of education, where does this leave us in the future? If parents do not pay enough attention to what their children do in schools, and children are spoiled instead of studying hard, while teachers’ effectiveness is not judged or encouraged properly, where does this leave us in the future? If the U.S. government or national leaders do not fully concentrate on a quality of education and support that is available to every citizen, and if leaders around the world do better job than American leaders in terms of educating their next generation, we open ourselves up to serious consequences.
Parents are too easy on their children
Why has the United States consistently failed on reliable international tests such as PISA? “For me, the answer is very simple,” says, Jackson, a former US Embassy employee in a European country, “part of it is that we baby our children. Parents should put some pressure on children to perform better. In Asia, students are expected to study more. Some countries, such as South Korea, China, and Japan maybe go overboard, putting too much stress on children. I don’t think that’s good. Then again, in the U.S. it’s very relaxed. So there has to be somewhere in between!” Julia, a housewife whose husband is a well-known lawyer in D.C. area, participated in our in-depth interview stating, “I see part of the problem being parents. They say that education is important. But they let their children watch TV and play video games. We don’t spend the time doing homework, which leads to struggle with class work or even dropouts. ”A rural-area math teacher who participated in the interview noted that the first 2-3 weeks new school year, she sees that students who do not show up to because their parents took them on vacations. By contrast, there are families with two working parents, or even over involved parents who do the work for their children. Julia’s husband Steven agreed with her point-of-view. “Parents just don’t like their children to fail at all. They are protecting them too much-everything in their power. It’s not the right way to go about it because children are not able to take responsibility and are unable to be good citizens. We are not teaching our children how to survive in the world,” he says.
Students think homework causes a stress and physical health problems
In many US communities, it is noticeable that schools, parents, and students praise sports more than academic success. This research found that 61 percent of parents agree that arts and athletic skills will not help much with future success, but that a strong educational background will lead to future economic wellbeing. A group of South Korean students who were studying in a bookstore participated in an in-depth interview for this research. Their main point was that majority of the students in Korea get up very early and study before school. After school they participate in both tutoring and homework sessions. The students noted that in comparison with Korea, Americans have no homework. While a study shows that the amount of homework for high school seniors has decreased, a Stanford researcher found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance and even alienation from society. (Stanford Blog, 2015) Greg, a student at George Mason University, says, “American teenagers prefer to have alower grades and focus on something that they are passionate about, including, myself. Though we, Americans, rank lower by its statistic in international testing, finding children’s passion is truly important because that’s where money is.”
High School Dropout Crisis
Elizabeth Warren, a senior senator from Massachusetts recalls how lucky she was to grow up in an America that invested in kids like her and helped build a future where they could flourish. But there is a hard truth: America is not building that kind of future any longer. (A Fighting Chance, 2015) Her consideration is worth taking seriously as high school dropouts and poverty becomes endless. With a 77 percent high school graduation rate, the U.S. is ranked 22nd of 28 nations with measurable data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), (USA TODAY, 2013).
This means that the United States ranks below the industrial world average (88%) in terms of percentage of students who get a high school diploma (77%). Simply, the United States is facing a high school dropout crisis. For instance, over 1.1 million members of the 2012 high school graduating class did not earn diplomas (Education Week, 2012). There are many reasons for the dropouts: missed school days, thought it would be easier to get GED, poor grades, no sense of belonging, and the inability to get along with teachers/others are the key reasons why children left their schools, according to the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (2012). These students are less likely find a job and earn a living wage, more likely to be a poor, engage in crime, and to suffer from a variety of adverse health outcomes as it compared to high school graduates (Rumberger, 2011). Industries like agriculture, forestry, fishing or mining, construction, and durable or non-durable goods manufacturing, warehousing are employers where 16-17 year old school-age children work.
Table 1. High School Dropout and Poverty Rate
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Rates by Races |
American Indian and Alaska Native |
Hispanic |
Black |
White |
Asian |
|
High School dropout rate (ages 16-24) |
11 |
13 |
9 |
5 |
3 |
|
Bachelor degree or more (ages 25 or older) |
17 |
14 |
19 |
33 |
50 |
|
Poverty Rate |
26 |
25 |
28 |
11 |
13 |
|
Source: PEW research center |
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According to the Pew research center, about one-third of the approximately 100,000 public schools in the United States in 2010–2011 were located in rural areas. In addition one-in-four Native Americans and Alaska Natives are living in poverty. Basically, there is no talk about quality of education. A 2005 United Nations report found that the U.S. had the highest rate of child poverty among all 24 OECD countries exceeded only by Mexico (UNICEF, 2005). More than 20 percent of school-age children are living in low class families or in poverty. Being eligible for free or reduced price lunch programs at the schools does not help much with students’ academic achievements as they live in a community where extremely high levels of joblessness, poor health, substance abuse, poverty, welfare dependency and crime or negative peer influences. Disadvantaged communities provide poor value in American school-age children’s development, both academically and physically. Sharon who lives in Fairfax, VA, states, “We had lived in Connecticut, in one of the richest counties in the nation. There was a huge gap between rich and poor families. Children in poor areas had no money for a pencil to do the homework, but the wealthier area has everything for their kids. Just in 20 miles, children lived completely different lifestyles. We need to compete globally yet we are not even producing equal students here to be able to do that!” Indeed, it is necessary to improve the quality of life for those students who live in poverty because it would impact their academic performances.
School Shootings & Other Crises
There are many other factors that impact students’ success in education. School violence, drinking, and child abuse are only the tip of the iceberg. Firearms are a major contributing factor to American school shooting crisis. According to Statista.com, the U.S. has more gun shops than grocery stores, posing a serious threat to school-aged kids. American youth are killed with a firearm and nearly half of youth suicide deaths involve the use of a gun. For example, between 1981 and 2010, over 100thousandchildren were killed by firearms, according to Statista.com. In 2012, over 600 thousand school-age children were abused while 145 thousand children of Hispanic origin were abused. Hispanic made up 25% of the nation’s public school students in 2013, with that share projected to rise to 30% by 2022. Today, one-in-five schoolchildren and one-in-four newborns is Hispanic, the study analyzed.
America Failing to Educate Our Children
PEW research center released information that about 58% of the school presidents feel that high schools are doing a worse job now than they were 10 years ago in preparing students for college. A lady who wants to be unidentified says: “It ties to a point which is U.S. education system has become damaged. As a result, America will lose an entire generation. We are creating a generation of incapable citizens, uneducated and incapable of critical thinking. They do not have access to information.” Wendy, an instructor at Northern Virginia Community College noted that her students do not have critical thinking or problem solving skills at all. They expect too much out of teachers and some of them ask a better grades than they deserve. “This tells us that students are less likely challenged in their public schools and teachers are adjusted to the students,” according to Wendy.
A study on U.S. Education Reform and National Security reveals that American public schools are not adequately educating children. “[In] the United States, we’ve always been held together by the belief that it doesn’t matter where you came from. It matters where you’re going. Without education, we cannot maintain that cohesion. Today, the sad fact is that, for the children who have the fewest options, the educational system is not delivering. America needs raise the alarm level,” (Rice and Klein, Special to CNN, 2012). An interview participant requesting to remain anonymous due to her work at the State Department has a very strong opinion about this research subject. She states “it’s a time for America to accept that we are failing to educate its children. We need to see what these other countries do for educating their nations whom students tops in a world-class test, like PISA.”
Current Challenges in Postgraduate Education
A) Education Funding: America is becoming more and more anti-education nation
Higher education is central to achieving individual economic success and to supporting the national economy. It not only offers the most dependable path to achieving social mobility, but it also allows the United States to remain competitive in the global economy. (Center for American Progress, 2015) In the U.S., state and local tax revenue is a major source of funding for public college and universities.
Most states have begun, in the past years, to restore some of the cuts they made to higher education funding after the recession hit. However, 48 states — all except Alaska and North Dakota — cut education funding deeply after the recession. “I have a Governor who just cut the education spending. And strangely enough – he turns out to build a new sport station for the exact same amount. He destroyed Wisconsin’s education system. There is more and more going on,” Ci Johnson, a former teacher in Wisconsin, says.
When colleges and universities don’t receive enough funding from the state and federal governments, they both cut educational or other services and raise tuition to cover the gap. These sharp increases in tuition have accelerated longer-term trends of reducing college affordability, diminish the quality of education available to people while shifting costs from states to students, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) reports. Tim Burch, a retired mailman was distressed by the U.S. government lack of investment in young people, “America in general is failing its children. And as far higher education, there is a great failure due to cost,” he said. Like Tim, many parents expressed that America is becoming more and more of an anti-education nation in terms of rising costs. 75 percent of the public says college is no longer affordable for most Americans, 52 percent of them says students and their families should not pay the largest share of the cost of a college education (Is College worth It? 2011).
Today, roughly 15% of U.S. youth aged 15 to 24 were not in school, a job or training,—a bigger jump than in many other wealthy countries. Some 19% of 20-to-24-year-olds were neither in school nor working, a 2013 United Nations report pointed out. It is clear that more children in the U.S. are detached from college, which harms not only themselves but also society’s well-being. Research has consistently found that college price increases not only raises dropouts rates but also results in declining enrollment. While many universities and the federal government provide financial aid to help students bear the price, research suggests that both the advertised tuition cost and the actual price net of aid affect whether students go to college; in other words, a high sticker price can dissuade students from enrolling even if the net price doesn’t rise (CBPP, 2015).
On the other hand, increasing cost of education let American college-age students dropout from their schools and end up their career in a minimum wage job markets. Indeed, 70 percent of high-school graduates enrolled in college, only about 57 percent of them completed degrees. A Pew research found that two-thirds of the students answered a major reason for not continuing their education is the need to support a family, with 57 percent would prefer to work and 48 percent of students said just couldn’t afford to go to a college.
B) Student Loan Debt: Left massive debt with no degree
The cost of higher education has become the source of even greater anxiety for American families. At a time when college matters more than ever, it seems increasingly less affordable, Senator Elizabeth Warren says. “Average student loan debt has passes 20 something thousands. It’s just intolerable situation. I don’t have kids, if I had, I would have worried because I cannot afford for their education,” says, Johnson, a retired handyman. According to Statista.com, average student debt per borrower is vary from $27,478 - $40,885, depend on where they are. Getting a graduate degree simple removes American young adults’ life-time goal list because they don’t like dealing with severe debt for their entire life. “My brother decided a long time ago not to have a college degree. He just didn’t want to go severe debt in order to do so. He didn’t see the way out like many young adults do today. Instead of, he preferred to earn money. Since he doesn’t have a college education, now he cannot afford anything. His family barely affords their house, they have no savings for their children’s education. My oldest sister and brother-in-law are in massive debt though they earned a college degree,” says, Lauren, who demands that U.S. government do something for the people who just simply want to educate themselves and take responsibility in the society.
When students cannot afford to spend time worrying, they most likely take the loans whatever the interest rate would be in order to go to college. Emily, a former veteran’s wife says, “You can get a student loans, but it would take you years and years to pay them off. While my husband worked in South Korea, it was a legal for me there to get a job due to visa status. My interest keeps accruing for that entire time even though I put my student loan on hold – my loans doubled in three years! Ever since we have been back in states, I am working for to pay my student loan. I took this loan in 2009 and it will take me 5 more years to pay off which means by 2020. So, now we cannot buy a house even I cannot afford or pursue for my doctoral degree until I pay off my masters. This is just an unfortunate situation.”
According to Pew research center, over the last 20 years, the price of attending a four-year public college or university has grown significantly faster than the median income. A freelance writer Sharon says “My husband went to college. When we finally paid off last student loans about a few years ago, it was the happiest day ever in life. Even though that was not that much per month, it just went on forever. Relief of finally being done with that was huge. So, having a student loan and paying a debt is a huge struggle. Last thing I want for my kids is to have that burden for years and years. Because I know how that will take.” A study shows, today, 1 in 5 American households now carry student loan debt. Students are drowning in debts and they are still force to finance their education. “My husband was in military and we were able to use GI Bill for my oldest one’s college. Second one is able to use 2 years. Though he needs to pay rest of classes, $5000 for each, which is insane. Now he wants to drop the school. I don’t want them come out the college with $30 -50,000 in debt. That’s completely wrong,” Christy, a mom of three says. Like Christy’s son, there are millions of bright, talented, and gifted students whom dropout or out of college due to financial burden.
Burden crushing young Americans are trying to deal with total students loan of the 1.1 trillion dollars. Student loans from 2007-2012 are target to make 66 billion dollars in profit after the bad loans and administrative costs.(A Fighting Chance, 2014) Jeff, a student at the George Washington University Law School, says a few stories that he has evidenced since he was in college. “Friends of mine stopped showing up in the class and indeed he dropped up in the beginning of his junior year. He just couldn’t make it through college, which was sad. The sadder thing is when he dropped out of the school, he had a 30-40,000 in debt. Because he went to the GW which was the most expensive school in the country. So now he has no degree, 40,000 in debt, and he had to move back to his parents. Now he is working on minimum waged job and slowly paying off his debt. I have another friend who made it all through college, a hard working student. She had a scholarship, but didn’t cover anything, same situation moving with her parents. It’s very, very sad. The solution is to minimize your cost post-college: get a job, live with your parents. Another story. My buddy, Clinton, had a student loan debt from college, and now from law school. Luckily one of his student loan debts from law school is subsidized, meaning the interest clock doesn’t start until graduation. But his clock from college is ticking; one of his clocks from law school is ticking. So he has a state bubble is not growing fast as it could be. He is very fearful,” according to Jeff.
Only 39 percent of college students graduate in four years. The majority or 59 percent students graduate in six years. On borrowed money, adding another two years of debt and losing two years of earnings on top of it just isn't feasible. Once students are in default, it is next to impossible to discharge the loans in bankruptcy. They are considered technically in default if they don't pay federal student loans for six to nine months, depending on the type of loan. And missing payments or just paying late can blow their chance of qualifying for a federal program that offers loan forgiveness. (CNN, 2015) It is a very sad system that students have to get a loan. Some of them might not get the loan that covers their needs, specifically for education. If students cannot afford to college or qualify for a federal loan, there are private lenders whom offer unsubsidized loans. In that case, interest starts to accrue from day one.
In order to pay both student loan debt or keep up the personal-and-academic needs, American students work tirelessly. Working 30-40 hours a week, students end up doing school-work and career-work, impacting students’ academic achievement. “Everyone needs a cool-off. You cannot work 24 hours a day. Students who have student loans somewhere disadvantages, they have extra responsibilities and headache. It’s very and very tough,” states Josh, Georgetown University alumni.
In general, college graduates having 50-60 thousand dollars in debt for their undergraduate studies, and 20-40 thousand dollars in debt for graduate schools. For students who attend both undergraduate and graduate school, they are left with more than 100 thousand dollars in debt. Compound this with the fact that entry level jobs pay around 25-35 thousand dollars annually, and it is easy to see the trap that these students have fallen into, not knowing what to do with that degree. Many students recognize that they are taking classes that are unrelated to what they intend to do professionally, leaving them paying high tuition for a course that they will not recognize as a benefit to their future careers.
c) College cost effects for middle class families
The PEW charitable trusts define the middle class as those making between 67% and 200% of the state's median income. Briefly, middle-income families make between $36,500 and $60,000, while the lowest-income households earn less than $20,300, a study shows. Gap between rich and poor remains a major challenge.
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Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2. Tuition growth has vastly outpaced median income gains |
More than 30 million Americans live below the official poverty line, BBC wrote. Tuition was up 26.1 percent between the 2007-08 and 2012-13 school years, while real median income was down roughly 8.3 percent over the same time period, CBPP reports. According to a Pew study, despite the fact that the national unemployment rate has fallen since the economic recession in 2009, income inequality among workforce has been increasing. Incoming inequality leads great damage to the society, as students from low-income families are far less likely to attend college. America’s middle class is under attack. Hardworking families are told that they’ll just have to live with smaller dreams for their children. Once again we need to be America that creates opportunities for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules, an America that builds a future for not just some of our children but for all of our children. We need a fair game. Washington is not working for families and small businesses except big corporations. And, the worst part is, millionaires and billionaires do not pay tax rate at least equivalent what middle class family is paying,” Senator Elizabeth Warren warns. “Struggling Americans lives works very well in these politicians. How much people struggling in middle class – it’s good for the politicians. Because the busier they are, the less they protest, demonstrate,” a mother of 4 sighs. “In every state, and even in national level, there are congressmen whom are either billionaires or close to it. And they get influenced by people who give them money for their campaigns. It brings our nation’s long-term economic and educational prosperity at risk” says, Jackson, who used to live in Germany.
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Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3. The value of a college education |
Higher education long has been seen as one of the best paths out of poverty. President Obama urged college presidents to give a fair shot to low-income minority students and ensure that more of them graduate. However, students or parents out there still don’t think higher education gives back a value or that it’s a necessary thing to be considered. 57 percent of Americans say the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend, according to the Pew research center. This research also found some of key concerns among young adults while conducting the qualitative method of its research. As a representative of middle or upper middle class categories, young adults have responded the following; majority or 39% of respondents believed that good skills and experience more important than a higher education, 23% expressed of don’t value the education – culturally, 19% thought that graduate degree makes hard when it comes to find a job, and 9% responded student loan debt changed their minds to be a student 10% pointed out to pursue their passion whatever it takes.
e) Higher Education abroad
Like American families, institutions of higher education face intensified financial challenges as well. Since the start of the recession, in response to state budget cuts, many state universities has reduced the permanent workforce, discontinued new enrollment in numerous of programs, eliminated thousands of positions, closed extension campuses, cut full-time tenure and tenure-track faculty while adding part-time and non-tenure track positions, to reduce administrative costs, and even there are merges between the state universities (CBPP, 2014). For instance, the University System of Georgia merged Southern Polytechnic State University with Kennesaw State University. In contrast, support for higher education and research is exploding in other parts of the globe. In China, for example, undergraduate student numbers have more than quadrupled in little over a decade; India has more than doubled its college attendance rate and plans to do so again by 2020. Higher education, these nations recognize, is a critical part of building their futures. (Drew Gilpin Faust, 2011). David, a father of 3, says “I’ve lived in Singapore. The government there send students to the U.S. or UK and covers their expenses including tuition fees. When students go back their country, a maximum wage job is waiting for them. I think, our government should do that.” David was right. Foreign governments are fundamentally supporting their nations’ education both at the public and higher education levels, and even sending their young adults to earn a valuable degree from a leading universities in the world. According to the Institute of International Education, in the 2013-14 academic year, international students constitute 4% of the total U.S. higher education population, while contributing over 27 billion dollars to the U.S. economy. The National center for education statistics predicts that in the U.S. higher education holds 886,052 international students, which is 4.2 % of total number of its student’s body in the United States.
“America might be the only country that profits off of student debt, which is still hard to believe,” says Tamara, a Virginia International University student from Germany, “Depending on the state and your grade point average from high school, you study for free or mostly free in universities in Germany. The better your grades, the better school you can go to study. If you have any tuition it's approximately USD500 which covers transportation costs. All buses and trains are free, and students are provided with free food for the entire semester. The government gives you bafög which is an interest-free loan, and you only have to pay back half of the amount you get.” Foreign governments promote education and training in every corner of the country while subsidizing their higher education cost. For instance; the University of Tokyo charges a tuition rate equal to $5,344, a fraction of Harvard University's $38,891 annual tuition rate.
Future
53 percent of Americans believe the United States plays a less important role in the world now than ten years ago. This is the first time in almost 40 years that the majority of Americans said that the country’s global power is in decline, according to the Statistical Portal. Researchers also found that Americans, specifically, don’t trust in Congress, the White House, banks, and major corporations. “We have spent so much time subsidizing corporations for instance doing the big money to the banks. Instead if we spend those millions of dollars to make a college to be a free or to forgive millions of Americans’ student loan debts, how significant of an impact that would be,” says, Anderson who owns a private bakery business. The majority of survey respondents believed that paying tax does not bring a value towards to their lives, as millions of Americans don’t have an access to a free/affordable higher education and health care plans. They blamed the U.S. government for spending trillions of dollars on defense in recent years. Although the U.S. education spending tops the global list, millions of taxpayers’ revenues are spent on America’s “war mission” (The Washington Post, 2013). In fiscal year 2014, the federal government spent $3.5 trillion, amounting to 20 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 18 percent of the budget, or $615 billion was spent on defense and security-related international activities, according to Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). At the same time, U.S. spent only 2% toward education, 3% for transportation infrastructure, and 7% for to interest on debt, and so on.
In contrast, in other part of the globe, countries put education and social security as their national priorities. For instance, China and Saudi Arabia have heavily invested not only education, health and social welfare, but also in creating world-class infrastructure projects, a metro rail system, bridge, road, and airports. According to BBC, Chinese high tech industries are catching up with the USA. They increase research and development spending $284 billion forecast this year, up 22% percent from 2012. And 2 out of the top 5 companies filling international patents are Chinese, which most believe, a result of the strong support toward education and science researching. A 59 percent of Americans say, “We may not have the largest economy in the world, China is very close. We fought an unnecessary war in Iraq, and spent trillions of dollars toward scientific and medical research. Now we don’t need to have an active military/defense role everywhere as we used to, though we have guaranteed a lot of countries’ safety,” a study found.
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Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 7. Education vs. Prison cost |
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Source: CNN Money |
So, the question is if American taxpayers’ money is wasted with inefficient ways that society doesn’t see practical benefits. For instance, CNN’s Education vs. Prison Costs released a data from 40 states depict how much government money is spent per year to educate an elementary/secondary school student compared to the cost of keeping an inmate imprisoned. The highest was New York. They spend $18,000 per student and $59,000 per inmate. How about Virginia? It was $9,500 toward education vs. $23,500 per inmate. There are over 2.2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country, which means, U.S. becomes the number one jailer in the world. According to California Prison Focus, “no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens.” Centre for Research on Globalization highlighted that the prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States and its investors are on Wall Street. “This multimillion-dollar industry has its own trade exhibitions, conventions, websites, and mail-order/Internet catalogs. And they produce 100% of all military helmets, ammunition belts, bullet-proof vests, ID tags, shirts, pants, tents, bags, and canteens with a minimum wage of 0.50 per hour. This incident briefly proves that how states prioritize prison industry over education. United States takes pride in human rights and in free speech, however, the nation sends more people to jail (2,228,424) than China (1,701,344) and India (411,992) where 36 percent of the world's population living in, a new estimates released by the Census Bureau said. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are about 2,500 school-age teenagers in state or federal prisoners by 2012. Unfortunately, for inmates aged 17 or younger, the risk of suicide is over twice as high with an annual average mortality rate of 32 per 100,000 prisoners. By mentioning all these facts, this research come up with the idea: if U.S. would educate more people and invest more in education, vocational training, and among others, nation would be less likely send people, especially, teenagers to jails.
Research method
To analyze how America and Asian students’ perceptual differences impact the performance of their academic success, qualitative method was used. The strength of qualitative research provides information about the “human” side of an issue – that is, the often contradictory behaviors, beliefs, opinions, emotions, and relationships of individuals (A Data Collector’s Field Guide, 2012). A qualitative approach was appropriate to implement as this research observation has framed a variety of students, educators, and even parents who have possessed a unique history, culture, language, moreover, different values towards to the education.
As literature was concluded with diverse studies documenting so many individuals’ perceptions, the qualitative approach helped to collect more fruitful data in terms of what challenges or opportunities that American students face. In this research method, my key stakeholders were students at public schools, colleges, and state universities, plus parents and educators. A qualitative approach helped to be consistent in order to meet object of the study and allowed to meet with different age-groups whom shared their diverse outlooks.
Qualitative methods investigated how rising costs of education affect every day American life, which indeed comes to open-ended questions. In general, qualitative data collection and research questions are adjusted to make education prioritize in the United States.
Research design
To conduct a comparative analysis between the students who have different ethnicities, socioeconomic status, or culture of education attainment, primary data was used. Data was helped to clarify personal stories, perspective, and experiences among college students. In-depth interviews collected opinion whether U.S. educational system is heading to a right direction. It also helped an objective of the research to grow richer and practical.
Prior to conducting the in-depth interviews in person, participants are told the purpose of the research, expectations from both participants and research outlook, social result, and authority of the participants in case they change their minds. Analysis of variety of books, peer-reviewed journals, reports to the United States government are mainly cited to its research paper.
Secondary data was convenient to use since there are plenty of larger or reliable databases available in education field which have captured primarily.
In the secondary analysis of qualitative data provides necessary background and much needed context both of which make re-use a more worthwhile and systematic endeavor (A Data Collector’s Field Guide, 2012). It was an essential to use as secondary data in education, government, and socioeconomic subject. Using both primary and secondary analysis of qualitative data was a beneficial to the research as it gave a real-life feedback and comparison. Secondary analysis of qualitative data sampling from U.S. born and foreign born students, male and female, current status (student or non-student), and age groups (minor, junior, or senior) and go on.
Annotated Bibliography
Angel Gurría. (2014). PISA 2012 results in focus: What 15-year-olds know and what they can do with what they know. Paris, France: OECD. This report stated details on PISA 2012 results, consist of total 6 volumes; summarizing student performance in math, reading and science, analyzing how equity in education has evolved across countries, exploring students’ engagement with and at school, their drive and motivation to succeed, examining how student performance is associated with various characteristics of school systems, presenting the PISA 2012 assessment of problem solving which measures students’ capacity to respond to non-routine situations as well as examining students’ performance in financial literacy and their experience with money. Report ascertained by the facts that the U.S. students were examined lower than industrial average except performed significantly better in problem solving skills. Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, is aware of PISA would help governments and educators around the world to identify effective policies that they can then adapt to their local contexts based upon their students’ overall performance. In this informative, detailed, and well-evaluated report proves that PISA produces well beyond statistical benchmarking. It is clear that Angel Gurría is committed to equipping young people with the skills to achieve their full potential, participate in an increasingly interconnected global economy, and ultimately convert better jobs into better lives is a central preoccupation of policy makers around the world.
Ken Robinson. (2005). How creativity, education and the arts shape a modern economy. New York: Education Commission of the States. In this newsletter based on the experiential research and assessment, Robinson recommends America needs a workforce that is flexible, adaptable and highly creative; and it needs an education system that can develop these qualities in everyone. As a recognized expert in the development of creativity, education, and training throughout the world, Robinson praise creativity, innovation, and competition which was a key logic of America’s success story. By contrast, American K-12 system doesn’t support those of creativity along with cutting-edge technology with advanced research and science programs. It surely connect with quality of workforce in the future. Today, majority of the business leaders, CEOs and managers are having an issue regarding their employees’ ability to decision making process, even lack of basic skills in business writing, computation, and spelling and goes on.
Pew Research Center. (2013). The Rise of Asian Americans. Washington D.C.: Pew Social Trends. Based in Washington, Pew is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that regularly conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other data-driven social science research. In 2013, Pew concludes Asian Americans as the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. In college enrollment Asians (86%) tops whites (68%), blacks (67%), and Hispanics (67%), a result of that, Asian Americans lead others in education, income, and life satisfaction rates. In this comprehensive and instructive research, Pew touched every possible social issues as it’s useful for the public understanding. In this research, we asked American young adults why would Asians succeeded in academically and even professionally. Wyatt, 21-year old an undergraduate student at George Mason University, said “Asian students tempt to be more focused on education. American kids have lot of social distractions especially when they are in college – like – partying, drinking, and social media.” National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism predicts that four out of five college students drink alcohol, which brings negative academic consequences, including missing class, falling behind, doing poorly on exams or papers, and receiving lower grades overall. At some point the U.S. used to be the leader in technology, innovation, and all these processes. “A Nation at Risk” report summarized of America's position in the world may once have been reasonably secure with only a few exceptionally well-trained men and women. It is no longer.” Today, only 29% of Americans rated their country’s K-12 education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (known as STEM) as above average or the best in the world. It may bring the U.S. education to poor rate while immigrants filling the high-tech workforce. Today, 56 percent of doctoral grads in engineering in addition one out of every five engineering graduates from American universities are foreign born, over 40 percent of the 25,000 STEM Ph.D.’s awarded in 2011 went to nonresident students. Researchers often criticized for the more advanced the education level, the higher probability that STEM graduates are foreign born. Overall, researching on immigrant workforce and their academic credentials was one of a kind. Pew warns America by this report to improve and support local students in terms of earn a higher education degree in STEM field while promoting the value of education.
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
The first purpose of the research was to find out if U.S. government conducted a report regarding both the strengths and weaknesses of American education. Records show that A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform was about first and last comprehensive report which was initiated by the President Ronald Reagan back in 1983. Recommendations from this report are still effective and very much related with the present-day school systems. From the title, it is obvious that there is a problem which may lead America to risk.
As the report remarks of American schools were failing, this research have tried to find an answer where they lost and how big. Indeed, answer becomes clear that U.S. education system has broken. Due to lack of solid common core nationwide, U.S. public school lost its fundamental purpose of educating its young adults while higher education seek to serve a profitable generation. Government has not made yet education available and affordable to all citizens, of which basically against interest of citizen and priorities of the nation.
Local and state regulated education systems pull back the future of its generations to have academically less competitive in the global market. Determined, well-educated, and strongly motivated competitors around the world is proposing to exceed “American dream” of its innovation and technological advances. “A Nation at Risk” pointed it already like this: American once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. Our society and its educational institutions seem to have lost sight of the basic purposes of schooling, and of the high expectations and disciplined effort needed to attain them. (A Nation at Risk report, 1983).” It’s been 32 years since President Reagan commanded this report, therefore, it’s time for America to assign next educational commission underneath purpose of public hearing.
How does the U.S. spend K-12 education? If it’s about how much U.S. spends on K-12 education, they might top on the world, spend more than any other nation. However, U.S. children are historically performing lower than any other industrial nation in one of the most reliable cross-national tests, PISA. As a government fact sheet shows, U.S. spends average of $91,700 per student between the ages of 6-15. Well-known educators in the U.S. are calling for a transformation of the culture of education and organizations with a richer conception of human creativity and intelligence. Otherwise, America will lose its power and human capital that once admires the world.
Where and how should the U.S. start to fix its broken education system? The best approach would be to revolutionize the standardized curriculum, test-exam-grade system, which was created over a century ago. With advanced technology, smart-world will no longer appraise the curriculum-based students. Expert Robinson noted that “Our education system works like a factory. It's based on models of mass production and conformity that actually prevent kids from finding their passions and succeeding nor inspire creativity. Educating young people is not like making motorcars -- at all. And one key difference is that motorcars have no interest in how they're made, and young people do.” Americans must perform well when it comes to education spending for per pupil.
A core problem is that educators pretend students should all turn out the same. Instead schools should emphasize children’s personal development. And we cannot just improve [schools], we have to radically transform them (Education Commission of the States, 2005.) At this point, students are encouraged only to memorize the facts and to take facts that they learn. When curriculums are narrow, people are ignorant about the fundamental purpose of education, Robinson says. By contrast, the Chinese education system provides students access to cutting-edge technologies. Creatica is among them. "People think we can't have a Chinese Steve Jobs, but I don't believe that," Ms Wei, a founder of Creatica, says BBC.
This cutting-edge curriculum will create the next “Apple” in China is Wei’s goal. BBC tells one of Creatica's most popular classes is called Brushbot. It teaches students to make robots out of toothbrushes by wiring them to vibrating motors. Another class, Talking Buddies, teaches students to design a character, make a cardboard cut-out and make it talk by connecting it to a small recording device. Chinese entrepreneurs have realized that it might too late to plant the idea of innovation in the minds of 20-year-olds, this, they focus on early childhood education.
How does the U.S. support the postgraduate education? It is acceptable for people to apply for loan in order to earn higher education. But it is not acceptable that the government earns billions of dollars from the student loan debt, with up to 12 percent interest rates. About 40 million Americans are dealing with student loans which are blocking their life time opportunities, such as to buy a home or car, even start up a business. (Fighting Chance with a New Afterwards, 2015) It brings concern to Americans that the U.S. government lost its vision and priorities to the people. According to distinguished educators, parents, and students’ points of views, American leaders had better to take education seriously before it’s too late. Education benefits the nation for a long term.
It clarifies that American students, educational institutions, parents, and governors seem to have lost sight of the basic purposes of schooling. America needs to go back to that very fundamental principle and concept of what the true purpose of education is in order to support post-graduate education without given a headache for its students. There was a time that America's educational success was internationally known.
By the early part of the 19th century, the world found that well established, extensive and democratic education system designed by the U.S. But world no longer admire America in that matter as most part of the globe, higher education is offered free or affordable for their citizen, means, world has realized something that America realized a long time ago. Idea of universal right its having an education comes from this great nation, USA. Every single time America said this is what both people and nation need succeed, they were making it free. “Somewhere along the line we got the idea that college/universities is money making institutions. That’s we seem to run into the problems,” a student at GW says.
CONCLUSION
President Obama has pointed out in his most recent State of the Union Address that “the single most important thing we can do is make sure we’ve got a world-class education system for everybody. That is a prerequisite for prosperity. America should adopt the goal of raising graduation rates to 60% in the next 10 years.” Even President Obama proposed that the first 2-year of community college to be free which will likely support for educating the low and middle class families’ children. Plus, his administration asks people to sign up for Student Aid Bill of rights –take serious of steps in order to colleges, State legislatures, Congress to make education affordable. But the hard truth is even tough many of president candidates and governors have promised education would be affordable for every citizen, it didn’t happen as they have promised. The reality is that today, Americans can get as much as postgraduate education that they can pay for. Overall Americans are unhappy with their political leaders not keeping their promises, which goes against American values. This study found that Americans want to see the real politicians and real policy for the people. The U.S. Department of Education’s official mission is “to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” Unfortunately, this is just a mission on the paper right now, according to Sandy, a student at George Town University. She continues, “Our political groups are not being true to their words. Higher education should be a free like Europe.”
One of Virginia International University’s students from Saudi Arabia says, “Since my arrival in the U.S., I saw Americans’ frustrations in the street or TV as they speak up for their rights in same sex marriage, racism, or weight matters. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any Americans demonstrate for their education rights. This must be universal right to have a free education. They must speak up for themselves. In Saudi Arabia, as a woman, I cannot drive or some kind of rights that Americans never might be imagined. However, our government spends tens of billions of dollar to educate us and supporting whole family members not only individuals,” Ahmed says.
It’s hard to maintain a leadership role throughout the world without having an educated workforce.
In recent years, the U.S. has realized that their students’ performance nowhere near some of children in Asia, a lot of ways our children behind them. It means, American children must grow up in America where makes education a real priority. In fact, America’s one of the reasons that they were able to compete in science and technology with the Soviet Union because while made the education national security priority. Now U.S. is basically firmed not a society that values living to learn, a society that values living to make money. In-depth interview research, Americans were blaming the U.S. government for not doing good job on educating its children – a nation’s next generation. For instance, Finland created the best school system in the world. Because they have separated religious from the science – all other developed countries none of them consider on religion. That’s where we are losing.
Another angle to look at are statewide standardized tests and how U.S. has lost some academic freedom as teachers are teaching to the tests and their employment and job security is wholly based on the success of their students, and also the funding for schools is based on pass rates as well. On the other hand, the U.S. school system is as diverse as complicated due to variety of ethnicities, religious and family backgrounds, and increasing number of immigrants. This makes teachers’ work harder than ever in order to fulfill their students’ and schools’ expectations. Today, in Americans school teachers’ are dealing with physically, emotionally, psychologically, mentally disadvantaged or emotionally drug abused children. Plus teachers are required to figured out how teach to the students who don’t speak English at all. A few students who have behavioral issues or have experienced horrifying situations at home, teachers are still required to figure out how to make those good students. In the U.S. teachers’ effectiveness get judged by how their students do on the standardized test. If entire class doesn’t perform to 92% effectiveness, then school loses money from the Government, or they have the authority to fire every single of teacher in that school.
Tough Senator Elizabeth Warren proposed to lower the interest rate on student loans and even forgiving loans for those that serve their communities (A Fighting Chance, 2015), no result comes up so far. It gives idea to Americans that Congress will agree on anything including fix the broken education system. In the meantime, millions of students drop out their colleges or burden on debts tough they didn’t do anything to deserve – earning tons of debt for diplomas. Plus, advanced technical and vocational training are neglected in the United States while employer prefers to hire graduate degree people.
Colleges proclaim that public school graduates underprepared which given them double pressures with shrinking state funding toward college/universities. Majority of the students are required to take a remediation due to lack of academic skills in reading, writing, and math. Employers react in a critical way that newly college-graduates require a special attention, which means, budget – train them to be mature, skilled, and competitive, creative, and to have a decision making skills. In contrast, in recent years, many of Mongolian high school graduates are accepted by the world class leading universities, like Harvard. Students are highly aware of even dedicated to study American universities. Those children know that their graduate diplomas would change their lives’ forever. That enthusiasm, commitment, and supportive environment toward education has been shrinking in American children. It is because American young adults see higher education as an uncertain investment. Result of it, today, Asian Americans enters college more than any other race, earning almost 2 times high schools graduates. And big result - Asians are in and Americans are out of the overall life satisfaction, according to Pew research center.
In general, American political leaders don’t take education seriously. They think what happens today is just somehow a narrow education problem and they we will be ok. However, it will harm America for a long term if dropout rates and cost of education increases as it’s jumped in the last few years. While cost of higher education makes college students drop out, pregnancy, poverty, or working full-time have caused students to dropout from high schools. And, plus, American parents don’t expect that much out of children yet tough it is very hard world to be survived for those who don’t have an education. The former U.S. Secretary of State urged the U.S. governors to work with educators, leaders in industry, the military, and others to expand the Common Core. Science, technology, and foreign languages and cultures should be included in the Common Core. Exams should be more technologically advanced and should simulate real-world applications of skills and knowledge.”
This research concludes that Americans agreed upon that the collapse of public and higher education will be changed when something happens that is big enough to shake America, and they don’t know yet what that would be. Furthermore, the United States has potential when it comes to education reform if political leaders would take it seriously as it’s going to damage next generation.
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