Warning signs: The lesson of current events
As the nation continues to react and rebuild from the heartache and devastation of Hurricane Katrina, attention is divided between recovery and fault-finding. There is one clear consensus, however: Our country was ill-prepared, despite warning signs that were known and knowable.
While Katrina was unleashing her fury, a less dramatic news event also hit our shores at the same time: The continuing nosedive of American education. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported that, among its 30 member-nations, the United States now ranks 7th in the percentage of the population that enters postsecondary education and then completes a bachelor’s degree or postgraduate program.
This drop in the relative rankings has been precipitous. Twenty years ago, U.S. participation rates, affordability and degree attainment were unparalleled. Other countries looked to America as the ideal to emulate.
The drop, however, was as predictable as it was precipitous. Our secondary school graduation rates have been falling. The price of admission to higher education has been increasing beyond inflation, family ability to pay, and growth in state and national need-based aid. A significant proportion of students who do enter postsecondary education are ill-prepared academically and either drop out or require costly remediation.
The warning signs about America’s education future are as clear as a leaky levee. Hundreds of thousands of otherwise qualified students will soon be foreclosed from achieving their potential (and the nation’s) because of cost.
Max Bazerman and Michael Watkins have authored a book on point: Predictable Surprises: The Disasters You Should Have Seen Coming, and How to Prevent Them.
Lumina Foundation and more than 50 national partners are starting to tackle the issue of college costs head-on. It’s time we re-learn the tough lesson about warning signs.
