OPINION:
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Our higher education system is in trouble. More people attend college now than ever, but many aren’t reaping the benefits they expected.
The Atlantic reports that more than half — 53 percent — of recent college graduates are either jobless or underemployed. This poor return on investment in college education is particularly troubling given the rapid rise in outstanding student-loan debt, which now exceeds $1.2 trillion.
Hence, we get protests like November’s “Million Student March.” This multicampus student protest called for, among other things, “free” college. The former president of Ohio State University, E. Gordon Gee, argued in 2013, “If we do not as a nation increase the number of graduates, then we risk the very foundation of the American Dream.”
But “free” (aka, taxpayer-financed) college isn’t free. And it’s no solution to the real problem, which is leaving graduates unprepared for workplace success.
College graduates still, on average, have a significantly higher earning potential than high school graduates. But is this wage gap because colleges are doing a better job of preparing students for the workplace, or are America’s high schools simply failing to develop the student skills and competences they once did?
Education economist John Merrifield suspects that much of the disparity in earnings among young Americans comes from a subpar high school education, rather than rigorous college experiences that have prepared them adequately for careers.
Mr. Merrifield notes that, according to economists, “between 1987 and 2007, 90% of the increased comparative value of a college degree came from the declining performance of high schools rather than the increasing performance of colleges; In essence, higher education has become more valuable because high school education has become exceedingly less valuable by comparison.”
The lack of preparedness among high school graduates also shows up in college, where 60 percent of college freshman now must take remedial courses. Repeating courses in college to teach skills that should have been learned in high school cost states and students about $3 billion in 2014.
Encouraging students to pursue additional years of education because the skills they gained in high school are inadequate creates another problem: credential inflation. A college degree has long signaled employers that the person holding that credential is, to quote economist Richard Vedder, “moderately intelligent and is persistent.” With the value of a degree increasingly being questioned, employers must look beyond the diploma — an expensive signaling device — and take a closer look at the marketable skills of job applicants.
For their part, policymakers should recognize that online learning and competence-based options have laid the groundwork to lower college costs and increase access for students. In response, long-overdue reforms to the ossified college accreditation system are needed. This would enable students to access flexible higher education options, including career and technical education.
The good news is that reforms to K-12 education financing now underway in the states can empower students to choose education options that work well for them and save for college at the same time. This increases the likelihood that they’ll leave high school prepared to pursue the career — or further education — they desire.
Notably, five states have now enacted education savings accounts, which deposit a portion of the state funds that would have been spent on a child in the public school system into a parent-controlled account. Parents can then use those funds to craft a customized education for their children. The money might go toward private school tuition, online learning, special education classes and therapies, textbooks, tutors, and a host of other education-related services, products, and providers. Parents can even roll-over unused funds from year to year or place unused funds into a college savings account.
Education savings accounts give students the flexibility to customize their education to their needs. With increased competition and choice — and the ability to craft a tailor-made education — schools can strengthen their education options, and families, if they choose, can save for higher education.
• This story has been updated: An earlier version incorrectly attributed a quote to the current president of Ohio State, Michael Drake. The earlier online version also included his photograph.
• Mary Clare Reim is an education researcher in the Heritage Foundation’s Institute for Family, Community & Opportunity.
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