The Truth About Getting a College Degree

            "Ask middle and high school students if they plan to graduate from college," write Northwestern University professor James Rosenbaum, postdoctoral fellow Jennifer Stephan, and University of Maryland professor Janet Rosenbaum in this American Educator article, "and the vast majority will likely answer yes. Even students whose grades are below average or downright abysmal will nod their heads and say they sincerely believe they will not only gain admission to college, but will earn a four-year degree."

But this isn't what happens. With open enrollment at so many institutions, many young Americans go to college, but less than half of high-school students aiming for a degree are successful, and for students with weak academic records, the college graduation rate is under 20 percent. Rosenbaum, Stephan, and Rosenbaum say that "with our good intentions, we actually mislead the youth who most need our guidance... [W]ithholding potentially discouraging information from youth appears to be a widespread societal problem - not a problem limited to the education field."

Take adolescent health. "Abstinence only" sex education programs have been ineffective in promoting abstinence, but condom use among program participants who become sexually active is drastically lower than it is among non-program youth because (a) students were encouraged to follow a narrow, idealized course of action, (b) the programs withhold information about the high failure rates of abstinence programs, and (c) program leaders persist with their idealized programs instead of alternative sex education programs with better outcomes.

Rosenbaum, Stephan, and Rosenbaum believe that leveling with students about college is analogous. "Somehow, across fields, we must find a way of being honest with our youth without crushing their dreams," they say. "Long term, knowing the truth is the only way to accomplish one's goals." They go on to identify three elements in the college-for-all bandwagon that are potentially harmful:

· Idealizing the bachelor's degree - Students are told that a college degree has a million-dollar career payoff, that a degree guarantees higher earnings, that high earnings signal good jobs, that a bachelor's degree leads to better jobs than an associate's degree, and that unsuccessful bachelor's degree candidates never return to get an associate's degree. Each of these is misleading, say the authors, and each discourages students from considering alternative backup options. What's not being said is:

-   Some B.A. graduates will earn less than most associate's degree recipients.

-   Future earnings are not the best criterion for choosing college majors and first jobs - other conditions are at least as important for life and work satisfaction.

-   These myths keep students from allowing for college interruptions due to work or family concerns; planning a sequence of certificate, associate's degree, then bachelor's degree might provide backup options.

-   Low-achieving students are rarely warned that they have a low probability of getting a B.A.

In a sidebar within the article, University of the District of Columbia history professor Chris Myers Asch describes a career talk being given by a dynamic young professor to an urban middle-school class. He asked students what they wanted to be when they grew up, and one girl answered excitedly, "Nurse!" "Nurse?" the professor asked with disappointment in his voice. "How about doctor? Don't you want to shoot high?" The girl's face fell, and Asch was incensed. "Not only was he wrong on a practical level - this country faces a serious nurse shortage - but he exemplified the haughty disdain with which many educators and policymakers view careers that do not require a bachelor's or advanced degree."

            · The idea that college is as easy as high school - Nowadays, most high-school counselors are reluctant to discourage students from attending college - they're uncomfortable with being gatekeepers for fear of being branded as racists and/or having low expectations of students. Counselors tend to present an oversimplified picture of open admissions, and students don't get the full story about the difference between passing state high-school tests and being college-ready, that college remedial courses don't count toward graduation, and the struggles of many students who went to college ahead of them. Studies have shown that students with poor grades (C or below) had less than a 20 percent chance of earning a college degree in 10 years after leaving high school. Knowing these statistics might motivate many high-school students to work harder for good grades - and might convince those with low grades to pursue other options.

            · Stigma-free college remediation - The unrealistic B.A. goals presented to students by community colleges collide with many students' poor academic skills. Over two-thirds of community college students are directed into remedial courses to bring their achievement up to the level required by B.A.-transfer programs. In some urban areas, the remediation rate is over 90 percent. With so many students in remedial courses, community colleges see it in their interests to reduce the stigma - remediation has become the new normal. Students don't feel uncomfortable with their status (and don't study for placement tests before arriving), but none of those remedial students are earning college credit. And the track record is poor: one recent study found that only 29 percent of students in remedial reading courses and 17 percent in remedial math courses successfully completed their sequence of remedial courses. They were in a dead-end street.

            "Youth should have dreams," say the authors, "but if school staff feel compelled to withhold crucial information to preserve those dreams, that is not kindness; it is deception that does great harm."

            What is a better plan? Rosenbaum, Stephan, and Rosenbaum make the case for students with low achievement taking a step-by-step approach to their career ladders: completing the courses needed to obtain a certificate; considering high-quality private occupational colleges that match them with appropriate occupational programs that don't require college-level achievement in math or writing; following a similar course in a community college; and other pathways. "The B.A.-for-all movement," they say, "conveys an unnecessarily narrow vision of success, which inadvertently fails to identify intervening degrees that lead to desirable careers with fewer obstacles, shorter timetables, and a greater likelihood of success." They can also increase the odds of eventually earning a conventional bachelor's degree.

"Beyond One-Size-Fits-All College Dreams: Alternative Pathways to Desirable Careers" by James Rosenbaum, Jennifer Stephan, and Janet Rosenbaum in American Educator, Fall 2010 (Vol. 34, #3, p. 2-13) http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/fall2010/Rosenbaum.pdf