Reform in Higher Education

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Joe Fercho Professor Janene Thomas English 102 April 24, 2013 Reformation in Higher Education How many people do you know with a college degree? From the moment we start school until the day we leave the workforce we are ingrained with the sense of importance of higher education. We‟ve been told that if we go on and complete a form of higher education we‟ll get good jobs with hefty paychecks and good benefits. We‟re told that we can retire early or even start our own businesses. So then why doesn‟t everyone have some sort of degree? There are many factors: some just aren‟t college material, others may have made life choices that bar them from attending the necessary amount of school. For the majority of people though, college is just too difficult to attend. To increase attendance and completion rates in higher education, there are a myriad of practical and possible reformations available. It‟s common knowledge that higher education is expensive both financially and personally. This means the longer someone attends, the higher the cost of completion becomes. One option to increase success in higher education is the lower the time it takes to graduate. Stan Jones, the president of Complete College America, agrees with this thought in his report to the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Higher Education. He expresses this by saying “The longer it takes, the more life gets in the way, and the less likely it is that one will ever graduate.” In the same hearing, he describes how many schools are providing more of a “package deal” for degrees. This is where you sign up for whole programs you would like instead of specific classes. Using that system students only have to make “big choices” instead of

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a lot of little ones. This simplifies the process and lets the student know ahead of time the expected costs and length to graduation compared the semi-blind wanderings of the average college student. A second issue that could be reformed relatively easily is the lack of consistency of educational institutions from state to state. Our current educational system is very flexible allows states to run their schools as they see fit. While this system allows for a wide range of institutions to provide a wide range of degrees and opportunities, it can also make it extremely difficult f to have a consistent level education throughout the country. This is why we need to implement a section in the Common Core State Standards initiative (CCSS) for higher education. On its website, the CCSS is describes its mission by stating “The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers.” Instead of separating K-12 education and higher education into distinct categories, they need to design standards across all levels of education. The Smarter Balance Consortium mirrors this sentiment in their higher education reform proposal. There is no reason why any lower level class and many upper level classes to be different at any school. They should all be based on the best materials and information available. With the advent of the internet, cooperation and synchronization of information should be a simple matter for this issue. Another small and easily implantable step towards consistency would be the standardization of term lengths. Eliminating one of the two most popular term length systems, trimester or quarter system, would remove the unnecessary hurdle of transferring credits smoothly and completely. As a transfer student between these two systems I can personally attest to the unnecessary complications that have arisen because of these two systems. Nearly 9 months

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after I transferred schools, I have just finished converting all my old credits to the necessary subjects and requirements. Another key reformation that needs to be realized is the restructuring of classes to fit the modern student demographics. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 40% of fulltime students and 73% of part time students are in the workforce. With so many students employed, and therefore having less time to spend on school work, we need to determine a system that provides the same quality education at more convenient times for the student. To implement this, I have determined that an internet-centric teaching style should be put in place. Instead of going to class for 3-5 hours a week, instructors could livestream, record and post themselves teaching the material. Doing this during certain times and on certain days would essentially create a class time for those accustomed to this style. During the stream, a chat window with the whole class participating could be open facilitating instant communication between instructor and online students. If a student could not view the livestream, the recordings would not only allow the student to observe and learn the material at a time best suited for them, it would allow the student to learn at his or her own pace while still staying caught up with the class. Face to face time with an instructor is irreplaceable though, which is why the online classes need to be supplemented with in person times where nothing new is introduced but the time is allocated for larger problems to be worked out between the student and instructor. The traditional style of teaching higher education requires the student to attend nearly every class and take down every note the instructor writes for fear of missing something that may be necessary later. Recording classes would aid the student by allowing them to learn the critical thinking and the „big picture‟ concepts during the class time instead of just rote memorization. This prompts them to question and understand the material while it‟s being taught rather than later when they

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couldn‟t ask questions. Not only would an internet-centric approach make the class easier to attend and understand, it would help relay information more cheaply and efficiently. If used correctly, the Internet could be the catalyst to the end of the overpriced college textbook. By using online databases and journals, students could view the articles and reports the textbooks themselves are based on. Not only would this bolster our critical thinking and research skills, heavier use of online journals and databases would take the cost of buying new textbooks every term off the shoulders of already poor students and put the cost of database subscriptions onto the schools (who already pay for these subscriptions anyways). As a secondary benefit, internet based information is oftentimes more up to date than printed information. While there are many necessary and important reformations that need to be executed, there are none more pressing than the need to lower tuition. It‟s no surprise that college is expensive and to makes things worse, it is only getting more expensive. If you were to go to a public school, your tuition would have risen by 9% since 2009. If you were to go to a private school the tuition would have risen by 4% in the same time (National). There are a few dynamic and complex factors to the rising cost of higher education but many are able to be controlled or outright eliminated. Ironically the worst contributor to the exponential rise in tuition is the government and its lending and spending practices. Although I wholeheartedly believe the government wants everyone to have the best education available, it is their intervention in the college market that has reduced the ability to do so without massive loans and debt. This is due to the laws of supply and demand. If the demand for college dramatically rises (due to increase number of students from government loans) and the supply (educational institutions) stays the same, than the price for the product is bound to rise. This is why since the early 80‟s, a short time

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after the government started guaranteeing student loans and increasing the amount of students eligible for those loans (“A History”), the price of higher education has risen 570% (Committee). Another main cause of the skyrocketing tuition has to do with how the states allocate money. Due to huge decreases in revenue and increase in demand for state services the states‟ budgets become tighter and tighter every year. As a result of the tightening of states‟ purse strings, some programs must go underfunded. Funding for necessary programs such as Medicare or food stamps cannot be cut, so education programs and other “unnecessary” programs are the hardest hit by these budget cutbacks. Although compared to the necessary programs, higher education is better off in the sense that it can find other sources of funding outside of state assistance. Unfortunately that secondary source of funding is us, the students. The best way to lower the astronomical tuition caused by these loans and grants is by simply cutting those grants. By cutting grants and loans to private schools such as Yale or University of Phoenix and instead routing that money towards public schools, we could make public schools very cheap or possibly free (Weissman). Instead of inefficiently handing out grants and loans to students through multiple associations and departments, the government could widen already open lines of funding from federal to state governments. To qualify for this extra funding the states would have to keep their tuition rates at or below a certain standard and education levels above another standard. This would create a win-win scenario. Public schools would get the funding they need to provide a quality education at a reasonable price to the students and private schools are now essentially in a free market where competition determines the quality of education and tuition rates instead of government intervention. Nobody disputes the fact that higher education is often the most realistic path to a better life, yet that path is still far from perfect. Before we can utilize this path to its full potential there

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are a few key reformations that must be realized. This includes reformations in the complexities in the path to graduation, the lack of consistency of interstate schools, the structuring of classes, and the ever rising price of tuition. If we can reform or at least improve these current issues it‟s possible, nigh inevitable that we can transform our higher educational system back to the best in the world.

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Works Cited "A History of College Student Loans in America." Not just for the elite. Randomhistory.com, 15 march 2008. Web. 24 Apr 2013. "College Student Employment." The Condition of Education - Postsecondary Education Characteristics of Postsecondary Students - College Student Employment. National Center for Education Statistics, 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. Committee for Economic Development. "Boosting Postsecondary Education Performance: A Statement By The Policy And Impact Committee Of The Committee For Economic Development." Committee For Economic Development (2012): ERIC. Web. 8 Apr. 2013. National Center for Education Statistics, et al. "Postsecondary Institutions And Price Of Attendance In 2011-12, Degrees And Other Awards Conferred: 2010-11, And 12-Month Enrollment--2010-11. First Look (Preliminary Data). NCES 2012-289." National Center For Education Statistics (2012): ERIC. Web. 8 Apr. 2013.

Jones, Stan, and America Complete College. Time Is Money...And The Enemy Of College Completion: Transform American Higher Education To Boost Completion And Reduce Costs. Testimony Before The United States House Of Representatives Subcommittee On Higher Education And Workforce Training. n.p.: Complete College America, 2012. ERIC. Web. 3 Apr. 2013.

"Mission Statement." Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Rampell, Catherine. "Why Tuition Has Skyrocketed at State Schools." Business Day. The New York Times, 2 Mar. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

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Smarter Balanced Assessment, Consortium. "Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Building A Plan For Higher Education To Implement The Smarter Balanced Assessment System." Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (2012): ERIC. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. Weissman, Jordan. "How Washington Could Make College Tuition Free (Without Spending a Penny More on Education)." The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

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