Eng 220 - Is College Worth the Investment?

Is College Worth the Investment

By Maritza Marcano

ENG/220

Is College Worth the Investment

You’re a senior in high school, your just about ready to wear your cap, and gown for graduation, but still not too sure if you are ready to head to college. Some of your friends are tired of school already and want to work in the “real world”, while others can’t wait for freshman year of college to begin. The questions running around in your head, am I ready for college? Is it worth the investment? Add another expense, and possibly fail out, or higher education which would equal to higher pay?

Over the last few decades the educational system has changed. Economist Gonzalo Castex conducted a study that revealed a jump in college participation between 1980-2000 of 27% from 41-68% (Canon & Gascon, 2013) But in “Transitions from High School to College,” Jaeger and Venezia discuss the lack of preparation high school students receive as they make their way through the end of high school into college. Specifically, they discuss how there are many factors that can prevent the students from being ready for college. These factors include academics, such as performance in school and on aptitude exams, and non-academics, such as family, community, and peer influence. In 2009 alone, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam showed that only 38% of twelfth graders who took the exam were “at or above the proficient level on NAEP’s reading assessment,” while only 26% hit the same mark in mathematics. In 2012, the results weren’t much better. (Jaeger & Venezia, 2013)

Some graduates would rather go straight to work because college seems “too hard” and “too expensive” so living check by check seems like the better approach.

In “College Knowledge: What it Takes for Students to Succeed and What We Can Do to Get Them Ready,” by David Conley, he discusses how to bridge the gap between high school and college as well. The results 6-year study conducted by Stanford University called the Bridge Project from 1996-2002 are reviewed by Conley where he concludes high school students do not understand what college entrance requirements are. In fact, since students got most of their information about college from teachers and family, they didn’t know much about course requirements either, because in the 1990s-high school was preparing students for the work force instead of college. Due to the lack of transition preparation being given to these students he suggested how educations could work, starting at the beginning of high school going straight into college to maximize the student’s readiness and success in college.

One of his suggestions to make help close the gap was to create an “intellectually coherent program” in the high schools. This program would include exit standards, a critical audit and review of the whole curriculum, and deciding what standards the school wants to set in this new intellectually coherent program. In doing this he also recommends the school have a clear vision and intention of their new program, clear expectations and program markers, use his alignment and challenge audit, and ensure that students do not make bad decisions. (Conley, 2005) In New York City, most of the high schools are doing this suggested approach, having a daughter in high school, her school started them with college style learning since freshman year. NYC has even down a sleep away trip so that high school students can see the difference of out of state college experience versus community college.