Education in The Future: a Problem of Graduation Rate

Education in the future

There are serious objections whether or not the federal government’s efforts to raise graduations rates are working. Throughout the years federal government have been trying to raise graduation rates. Some may ask whether or not they’re doing a great job and has society noticed a change. This affects all students who attend a college or even a university campus as tuition raises. Many college campuses have closed down because they could not attract students to register to enroll to their campus. This matters because anyone should be able to graduate or even earn a higher master’s degree. Many people believe that the federal government’s efforts to raise graduation rates are not working. The federal government was established in 1789. Education was first supported by Northwest Ordinance in in 1785, it was first established in 1787 for education. Future parents are generally the ones who worry about their children education whether or not they’ll be able to afford it. If the United States ended up in depression generally most students would not be able to attend college or even afford to take care of their families depending on what they majored in. Government workforce has been expanding on the amount of job opportunities that has opened up for the upcoming college or even university graduates. Obama himself has even tried to raise Internal Revenue Service funding for students attending colleges or universities. Providing this possibility will help other students in the future outcome. There are many reasons why the federal government have not been successful with raising graduation rates.

The first reason is that the student’s dropout rates have increased throughout the years. Many students drop out because they cannot afford to pay for the tuition price. Recently some colleges and universities have raised their tuition to gather better equipment or even hire more professors. This shows that the federal government needs to improve on their education policies. Some students may even ask themselves whether or not college education is really worth the time investing in. For example in the Introduction to “The Value of a College Education”, Tomas J Billitteri provides a range of information of what the college education is actually worth. Specifically, Billitteri argues that college students are decreasing and High schools offer college programs. As the author himself puts it, “We believe when this all shakes out, total enrollment will drop by about 250,000 students.” (Billitteri, 985) In his view he believes that more and more students will drop out in the next few years. Some colleges are losing students due to budget cuts. Although some people believe that it is the colleges fault, Billitteri insists that it’s the governments fault for not providing more funds for schools. In sum, his view is that colleges need more funds to provide less dropout rates.

The second reason would be whether or not the government is taking education seriously. Many students finish college or even a university but cannot find a job for their major that they’ve earned. This causes for students to not enroll to colleges to pursue a higher paying job. Most of the students who finish their degree are in debt and have to spend time paying that off.

People who want to attend college fear this as they do not want to spend years trying to pay it off or even if they don’t plan on finishing their classes. For example in the Introduction to “Expanding Higher Education” by Reed Karaim who provided questions in the article to interact with the readers. Specifically, Karaim argues that higher education should be the number one priority globally. As the author herself puts it, “Two generations of economic research around the world have been really pretty clear that the social and economic returns of putting unschooled children into primary schools is far higher than the economic returns of expanding higher education.” (Karaim 553) She explains that education has been a conflict for generations and has not been changed. Although some people believe that the government should reduce other things such as taxes. In sum, her view is that the government should take education more serious.

The third reason would be that students are not having a successful rate with their college careers. Students are generally taking out loans for their major hoping that they’ll be able to pay it off once they graduate with a degree. For example in the Introduction to “Career Colleges”, Barbara Mantel provides general information that people have choices whether or not to earn their bachelor’s degree at a college or university. Specifically, Mantel argue that some students actually go in debt while attending a 4 year college. As the author herself puts it, “They said I would be earning $50,000 to $70,000 a year.” (Mantel 6) In their view students are picking their major based on how much they’ll be making in the future and are not satisfied of the outcome. Colleges are misleading students to pursue certain professions. Although some people believe that they can get a high paying job completing a 4 year college, Mantel insists that colleges are misleading students telling them what the professions outcomes are. In sum, their view is that students are being misled at certain colleges. Some may say to only take out a loan depending on the amount of money your career makes. Each career earnings changed throughout the years as more jobs may open for that spot or even decrease as technology develops.

The last reason is that immigrants in the United States struggle to pursue higher education. Many immigrants cannot afford to pay for college or even university they rely on financial aid. Even though they can apply for financial aid most of the immigrants are denied because they have not a resident of the United States. This affects the government because this will soon become a major problem as more and more immigrants come and travel to the United States. For example in the Introduction to “Being Here, But Not Here” by Ross Sherman and Hugo Lbarra who provided an article on a girl who was an immigrant from Mexico who came to the United States as a child. Specifically, Sherman and Lbarra states the girl wants to pursue in higher education and graduate from high school just like her brother. As the authors themselves put it, “Since arriving in the United States she has not visited Mexico and considers the United States her only home.”(Sherman, Lbarra) In their view Jacqueline is like most Americans, but they state that she wants to attend college. Many American born children who have immigrant’s parents that cannot afford to send their child to attend to a college.

Many people argue the federal government’s efforts to raise graduation rates is not working, some other individuals have a different say. In other cases some may believe that the federal government’s efforts to raise graduation rates is working. This political topic has grown throughout the years of the United States. Some states have made different regulation changes to their education systems. Each state has its own constitution law whether or not it affects the education system.

The first reason why the government’s efforts to raise graduation rates is working because how each state has its success rate. There are 27 states who meet or even exceed the national graduation rate. For a state to succeed they have to be above 80 percent on graduation rate. For example in the introduction to “Dropout Rate”, Robert Kiener provides generals questions and statistics on how many students graduate from high school. Specifically, Robert Kiener argues that the graduation rate is successful depending on what state they live in. As the author himself puts it, “black students graduated at a 69 percent rate and Hispanics at 73 percent, compared with whites at 86 percent and Asian-Americans at 88 percent.” (Kiener 508) In his view not everyone finishes high school or even college. Every ethnicity should have the same graduation rate as every race in the United States. Even though this can vary from what type of environment they live in. African Americans have the lowest graduation rate out of the other ethnicity which could be improved on by the federal government. Giving in more opportunities for them to pursue for higher education.

In conclusion, there are serious objections whether or not the federal government’s efforts to raise graduations rates are working. Generally many would agree that the United States have not been doing a great job at lowering dropout rates but many would argue against it. This issue affects students, parents and even immigrants who want to pursue higher education or even attend a college-level campus. If this does not get resolved it will become a further issue such as the United States being in debt. It is one of those things the government has to solve soon rather than later. Democrats are mainly the ones who are trying to fix education and making sure college students can be employed when they graduate. All religions are curious whether or not if they’re son or daughter will go to a community college as most students who finish college are unemployed. This issue is mostly for students who recently graduated high school or students in high school looking to enroll to a university or a college. Without financial aid most students such as myself would not be attending colleges because the money is not in our pockets. Generally applying for scholarships helps out with the general pay of tuition increasing.

Works Cited

1. Billitteri, T. J. (2013). The value of a college education. CQ Researcher, 23(39), 981-1004.
2. Karaim, R. (2012). Expanding higher education. CQ Researcher, 22(22), 553-576.
3. Mantel, B. (2011). Career colleges. CQ Researcher, 21(41), 1-24.
4. Sherman, R., & Ibarra, H. (2014). Being here, but not here. American Educator, 38(2), 4-16.
5. U.S. Department of Education. (2021). College Affordability and Transparency Center. Retrieved from https://collegecost.ed.gov/
6. National Center for Education Statistics. (2022). Fast Facts: Graduation Rates. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40
7. American Council on Education. (2019). Higher Education Act Reauthorization Priorities. Retrieved from https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Higher-Education-Act-Reauthorization-Priorities-2019.pdf
8. Pew Research Center. (2021). Most Americans say colleges and universities should prioritize helping students grow personally and intellectually, not just getting them good jobs. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/03/most-americans-say-colleges-and-universities-should-prioritize-helping-students-grow-personally-and-intellectually-not-just-getting-them-good-jobs/
9. The Lumina Foundation. (2021). College Attainment in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.luminafoundation.org/resources/college-attainment-in-the-united-states-2021
10. Inside Higher Ed. (2022). Tuition Discounting Hits All-Time High. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2022/01/24/tuition-discounting-hits-all-time-high