An America Low On Education And Graduation

Americans continue to stay out of diploma lines. The American Council On Education has issued a new report that says “today’s young adults are no better educated than the baby boom generation.” That seems to be an insult to Baby Boomers until it is considered that many of them had to work to support themselves in a time when access to higher education was not supported as generously by scholarships as it is today.

The situation is particularly acute among segments of the population which already tend to struggle economically. “Young Hispanics and African Americans have made no appreciable progress in postsecondary attainment as compared to their older peers, and attainment rates have dipped for the youngest group (aged 25-34).” Those most disadvantaged become more so as their ability to apply for the better jobs in the economy is compromised by their backgrounds.

Among the other salient conclusions of the study are that women have become better educated than men due in large part to advances made by Asian Americans and whites. By contrast, Hispanics, the fastest growing portion of the population, tend to be among the most poorly educated Americans.

As of 2008, Asian Americans and whites had the highest rates of high school completion, at 91 and 88 percent respectively, followed by African Americans at 78 percent and American Indians at 71 percent.

Although Hispanics made the largest gains and narrowed gaps between themselves and both whites and African Americans from 1988-2008, they continue to have the lowest rate of completion at 70 percent.

All of this speaks to the continuing trend which has caused America to fall behind other developed nations in educational attainment. America’s ability to compete in the areas of science and math will probably still disintegrate as the prevalence of those skills among the young in the Asian regions and developed nations continues to improve.

The American government, economists, and scholars routinely point out that America cannot keep its edge in critical industries which involve significant science skills. Over time, the US is also likely to lose the edge it has in one of its most critical industries–software development.

The federal government has no effective way to combat these education problems. Programs already in place to help improve the education of K to 12 children appear to have little impact based on college entrance exam scores and those in the ACE study. Congress and whatever administrations have been in power over the last three decades have failed to solve a critical problem. One that is a growing strategic issue facing the US as it tries to keep economic growth at a level with developed nations like China.

Americans, it seems, are doomed to be undereducated, at least compared to many of the countries it competes with for the creation of goods and service. That may be one cause for a lag in US GDP growth. If so, the US will continue to suffer economic expansion that will keep it behind in the race for scientific and related advancement.

It was this advancement which drove America’s economic health when its citizens were among the most well-educated in the world.

Douglas A. McIntyre