US News and World Reports says that 36% of those attending college drop out, is this a bad thing?

Question

Who said if you got in you were good enough to graduate?

I sort of like the idea that it's hard to do and is meaninful.

Answer 1

Sometimes you hear people blame this dropout rate on bad high schools, but I dont buy it. Despite all the complaints, I think that HSs are doing a better job now than in the past.

Back in the 1960s only abut 15% of HS grads went on to college, but now about 60%. So that means that a lot of people who are going to college now would not have been in college in the last generations. (And many, many people who would certainly not have been in HS in the past are now encouraged to stay in school) So, the HSs and colleges are dealing with a lot of people who are not Einsteins.

Does this mean that colleges are failing (because they have loosened their standards) or that a college degree is no longer meaningful? I don't agree.

I think that what is happening is, we really NEED to have many more of our people be educated to a higher level. In fact, as many as possible to the highest level they can get to! You cant do it in 12 years of school. Some people just take longer. So, we have to continue the schooling to 14 or 16 years. The bright kids who go to Harvard, Duke and Stanford are as bright (or in my opinion, brighter) than those in the past, but there are now more schools for those kids who are not the brightest bulbs. And we need those kids to be the best they can be. So, we need the schools that take in those kids and move them to a higher level. A kid who graduates from non-selective University is not a Harvard kid, but he is way advanced over someone who doesnt have that extra 4 years. The assembly lines are gone, so we need everyone to be able to read, write, calculate, cogitate....

Answer 2

It could be trouble once the baby boomers retire in mass