I came across this post from the UK, “Should 50% of Students Go To University? ” The UK government has set a new target to have 50% of high school graduates enter university. The writer asks a valid question; is this good practice? There’s a shortage of plumbers and other tradesmen in the UK along with an aging population. Do they need university grads more than plumbers? Is a college education the best way to create a highly skilled workforce?
If I visit any Anchorage high school career counseling web page the emphasis is on college preparation. Very few schools mention vocational education. Is this an accurate reflection of our work force? I think not. The teaching/career counseling profession has a built-in bias since they are all college graduates and thus that is where their personal experience directs them. This does a disservice to the kid who wants to be a highly skilled tradesman.
Alaska has set its target for college participation at 41% for 19-year-olds. The most recently published rate is 28% in 2004. The national average is 38%. Is this a reasonable or desirable target? I don’t know.
Here are the six-year graduation rates for Alaska’s public universities as published by The Education Trust.
- UA Anchorage 25.7%
- UA Fairbanks 21.6%
- UA Southeast 18.2%
These are low numbers when compared to similar schools nationwide. However, Alaska’s workforce is, statistically, fully employed. Unemployment is consistently around 5% in South Central Alaska where the majority of the population resides with a small uptick in the winter months for seasonal occupations. Students leaving university without a degree are able to find work. I suspect they find work that is more attractive to them than college since that would be essential to making that decision. Again, I ask is a college education the best way to create a highly skilled workforce?
Alaska’s Department of Education and Early Development is preparing to implement Work Keys Employment system which will be integrated into the Alexsys online employment system. It will index jobs to specific skill and education requirements. Skills tests can be administered in high school or anytime for that matter and matched to a student’s ambitions and goals. An education plan can be built based on this and integrated with local workforce needs. The plan may or may not include a bachelor’s degree. Likely, it will require some postsecondary training. Hopefully, this can remove some of the bias toward college prep in local high schools.
I went through this whole exercise so I can come back to individualized education. That is, determining a child’s strengths, weaknesses, gifts and motivations and directing him or her how to use these abilities. Employment skills become more important in the secondary grades and parents who homeschool through graduation have some great tools available for guiding their kids.
I think college is over-rated as the ticket to a good life. You don’t need an ivy league education to be successful. Beisdes plumbers, elctricians and welders can make a darn good living!!
I know plenty of folks who are making a good living without a degree. I also know some (like myself) who continue to learn and better themselves without a degree. I only finished 2.5 years of college and I’m able to teach my kids, run a household, keep our finances, pay our taxes, and continue my own education. I think college is great, but that shouldn’t be your main goal in life. Do what you love. Learn from people who are great at it. “Follow your bliss”.
As a college teacher, I am constantly discouraged by the lack of available options for students who don’t wish to go to college, as well as the prevailing social attitude that a person needs to have a post-secondary degree in order to do ANYTHING.
Many teenagers are very poorly served by the pressure put on them to go to college, and their inability to succeed at college/university (which may be due to a number of factors) can lead not only to problems with employability but also to severe issues with self-esteem - such teenagers need other options, like professional and trade apprenticeships or alternative kinds of education, but such options are rarely available.
What’s more, in Quebec, public colleges receive their (badly needed) government funding based on their enrollment numbers, so there is more and more pressure to enroll large numbers of students who are not academically or personally ready for the challenges of college. As a result, colleges are morphing their courses and overall curricula to accomodate such students, and the overall value and meaning of a college education is declining.
It’s a large, society-level problem that needs a lot more attention than it’s getting. No one doubts the value of an education. The problem is that the term “education” is so narrowly defined.
We have told too many generations that they need to go to school to get a job. The results are that even if you are qualified for a job a degree is required before you will even be considered.
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