Newswise — After two years of participating in a sweeping College Board study on the future of American education, USC Vice Provost for Enrollment Policy and Management Jerry Lucido joined his colleagues this week in a formal presentation of their findings before education leaders, congressional aides and the media.
"We are entering a period of dramatic demographic change in the United States where any increase in college-bound students will be coming from groups that are traditionally under-prepared for and under-represented in colleges and universities today," said Lucido after the event. "We have to communicate better the need to go to college and form greater partnerships with schools to help prepare these students for the academic challenges that are ahead of them."
The College Board report, "Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American Future," was presented in Washington D.C. on Dec. 10. It was prepared by the Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education and Lucido served as the vice chair of that commission.
Lucido said that as part of the research process, the commission noted the Marshall Plan for California Higher Education, which was formulated by USC Rossier School of Education Professor William Tierney.
The College Board report included startling statistics and helpful suggestions for improving access to education in the United States.
The United States now ranks 21 out of 27 advanced economies in high school completion rates " a stunning drop after leading the world in high school completion rates throughout the 20th century. The United States also ranks 11 in the world for college completion rates for workers between the ages of 25-34, down from an all-time high of number two in the world.
"The fundamental issue for the commission is that America's future - not just our competitiveness, but our future in economic competitiveness and health care and social structures and voting patterns - is dependent on more Americans going to college and completing college," said Lucido, who also heads USC's Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice.
The commission came up with a 10-part action agenda or recommendations:
1. Provide a program of voluntary preschool education, universally available to children from low-income families.2. Improve middle and high school college counseling.3. Implement the best research-based dropout prevention programs.4. Align the K-12 education systems with international standards and college admissions expectations.5. Improve teacher quality and focus on recruitment and retention.6. Clarify and simplify the admissions process.7. Provide more need-based grant aid while simplifying and making financial aid processes more transparent.8. Keep college affordable.9. Dramatically increase college completion rates.10. Provide postsecondary opportunities as an essential element of adult education programs.
The Commission sets a goal for the United States to reclaim its leadership ranking so that by the year 2025 a total of 55 percent of young Americans are completing their schooling with a community college degree or higher. The College Board will conduct regular evaluations and reports to track national improvement.
Lucido said the target goal is possible as long as educators set yearly benchmarks to allow for incremental improvements of about one percent a year.
"This is an investment in the future," said Lucido. "This Commission may be the first to have college presidents arguing for preschool education and school administrators advocating for higher education. The stakes are too high for us to fail."
RSS