Earlier this fall, a Johns Hopkins study found that only 6 percent of Baltimore City's High School Class of 2004 graduated from two-year colleges within six years. Why are so few students graduating from these two-year colleges? The Hopkins researchers suggested that perhaps the city schools are pushing students into two-year programs because it's easier and cheaper. These schools, however, do not serve their students very well. On the other hand, 34% of the Class of 2004 graduated within six years from four-year colleges.
But another reason is also likely playing a factor. Although two-year schools are generally more affordable than four-year colleges, students going to college from predominantly low-income urban school systems probably have to take out loans to finance their education. But because low-income students are generally averse to debt, it's more likely that these students would adopt risky behaviors to minimize the amount of loans they need to take out. If students choose to delay enrollment after high school, enroll college part-time, or work full-time, then they become more at risk for not completing their degrees. This was what I discovered in my new report, entitled Degreeless in Debt: What Happens to Borrowers Who Drop Out, recently released from Education Sector, an education policy think tank in D.C.
To read more about the Hopkins study, click here.
To read more about my new report, click here.
1 comment:
Mary - An excellent report on the costs of education. Although the obvious response to your findings is to start looking at the cost of college, the ways students get financing and how to reduce those burdens, I must admit that it also reminds me of the issues raised by Harvard's Pathways to Prosperity report (www.gse.harvard.edu/news.../Pathways_to_Prosperity_Feb2011.pdf).
Not only are students taking on too much debt, I also think it highlights the dangers of a one-size-fits-all approach to post-secondary education and the need for more options. Although the job market demands workers with post-secondary training or schooling this does not always mean a 4 year college. Perhaps if we had a better pipleline with more options that would alleviate some of this issue.
That being said, even specialty certificate programs cost money so the issues in your report would be salient nonetheless.
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