The United States' performance in college education is lagging on the world stage, and the situation will only get worse unless radical changes are made, according to a new report.
"Hitting Home: Quality, Cost and Access Challenges Confronting Higher Education," says that the United States' higher education system will be unable, at its current rate, to produce enough degrees to meet the demand of its own workforce.
The report, authored by Travis Reindl on behalf of Making Opportunity Affordable, also indicates that the United States will fall farther behind international competitors in that department.
Other inequalities also contribute to the problem, and the report says "the United States has miles to go to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in degree production."
"These gaps start in K-12 education … in some cases, before," said Reindl. "What you have a lot of times, especially with minority groups and low-income groups, they tend to be concentrated in areas where you don't have the best schools."
While the number of students pursuing degrees in the United States is at an all-time high, tuition and other costs of attending college have skyrocketed in recent years.
Additionally, the report says that while American students are in the top five worldwide in terms of the percentage of students who attend college, they are 16th in terms of students who finish.
"Some of these other countries … you don't have the same degree of diversity that you have in the United States," said Reindl. "You don't have some of the social and economic gaps to the extent of the United States.
"You have a more homogeneous population in a place like Norway; you also have less of a gap between rich and poor in some of those countries."
The report also outlined its sweeping reform plan to remedy many of these situations. One of its important priorities is to increase degree completion rates, especially as a percentage of enrollment rates.
"Hitting Home: Quality, Cost and Access Challenges Confronting Higher Education," says that the United States' higher education system will be unable, at its current rate, to produce enough degrees to meet the demand of its own workforce.
The report, authored by Travis Reindl on behalf of Making Opportunity Affordable, also indicates that the United States will fall farther behind international competitors in that department.
Other inequalities also contribute to the problem, and the report says "the United States has miles to go to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in degree production."
"These gaps start in K-12 education … in some cases, before," said Reindl. "What you have a lot of times, especially with minority groups and low-income groups, they tend to be concentrated in areas where you don't have the best schools."
While the number of students pursuing degrees in the United States is at an all-time high, tuition and other costs of attending college have skyrocketed in recent years.
Additionally, the report says that while American students are in the top five worldwide in terms of the percentage of students who attend college, they are 16th in terms of students who finish.
"Some of these other countries … you don't have the same degree of diversity that you have in the United States," said Reindl. "You don't have some of the social and economic gaps to the extent of the United States.
"You have a more homogeneous population in a place like Norway; you also have less of a gap between rich and poor in some of those countries."
The report also outlined its sweeping reform plan to remedy many of these situations. One of its important priorities is to increase degree completion rates, especially as a percentage of enrollment rates.
