Phoenix
In the face of a stubborn gap between the rich and poor in America, colleges must open the door to higher education "wider than it has ever been opened" to prevent even more people—and the country—from falling behind, Eduardo J. Padrón, president of Miami Dade College, said at the annual meeting of the American Council on Education here on Sunday.
Mr. Padrón, who leads the country's largest community college, urged the leaders of both private and public institutions to promote access over what he called a "disturbing trend of increased selectivity." Education is the key to the nation's recovery, he said, and the country will be less stable if more students don't go on to college.
"We will see a class system like no other, with the fortunate few becoming world citizens, well connected as never before to the economic, educational. and cultural opportunities, while those for whom the door to education closes will be excluded as never before," Mr. Padrón, an economist by training, said during the meeting's opening keynote address, called the Robert H. Atwell Lecture.
The theme of the meeting is "Meeting the Challenges Together," which focuses on achieving President Obama's goal of higher-education attainment, facing the financial challenges on students and institutions, and maintaining mission in the midst of major change.
Along with having economic benefits, Mr. Padrón said, exposing more students to the kind of learning and reasoning taught in college could help break down some of the partisan discourse that has the country stuck over how to address complex problems such as health care, education, and immigration.
"We need to court a much broader swath of the community and ensure they take up the challenge of being citizens of a new order," Mr. Padrón said.
He acknowledged that the challenge to increase the number of people with some higher education is daunting. The country's public-school pipeline has broken down, he said, especially for low-income and minority students, and many students aren't prepared for college. At Miami Dade, almost three-quarters of the students show up unprepared in reading, mathematics, or English.
Mr. Padrón suggested more colleges establish partnerships with public-school systems to help prepare more students for higher education, and he urged colleges to focus not just on the best high-school students in poor communities. The real challenge for educators, he said, will be reaching those students who seem "destined for the underbelly of society."
"The price we will pay in our nation if we do not embrace this broader notion of access is impossible to calculate," he said.
Comments
1. 11222933 - March 08, 2010 at 09:37 am
If this report is accurate, Mr. Padron is way off. Egalitarianism has ruined K-12 schools by placing students in the wrong environments and dumbing down the classroom. If we do that in higher ed, the U.S. will fall must faster than it already is.
2. bbaicad - March 08, 2010 at 10:38 am
The main problem with Mr. Padron's commentary is that it is essentially inaccurate. Except for about 50-100 elite colleges in the U.S., it's already easier than ever to get into college. Caroline Hoxby, in her recent report "The Changing Selectivity of American Colleges" (National Bureau of Economic Research, October 2009) states, "Although the top ten percent of colleges are substantially more selective now than they were 5 decades ago, most colleges are not more selective. Moreover, at least 50 percent of colleges are substantially less selective now than they were then." You'll have to read the report for more of her detail. But the point is that there is this myth among policy-makers, parents, and politicians that it's difficult to get into college, when in fact it's never been easier. Mr. Padron proposes to solve a problem that doesn't exist. And if you're worried about creeping egalitarianism, it's already here.
3. rick1952 - March 08, 2010 at 11:29 am
bbaidcad - thank you for the reference to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research - not being an economist, I was not familiar with this resource.
OK, if selectivity in admissions is not the problem, perhaps that means we can look more carefully at the impact of cost on college attendance. Students may be able to gain admission to college more easily than we believed but can they afford to enroll and complete a four year degree, especially if they are from lower income brackets in our society?
I agree with Dr. Padron's statement about the educational pipeline - if it is not broken down, then it is certainly very leaky, especially when it comes to low-income students in our major urban areas as well as rural communities. The educational system seems to work much better for students from middle class and more affluent suburbs despite some of its shortcomings than it does for low-income students in cities and rural areas. I hope that we will find the political will and fiscal resources necessary to strengthen the pipeline for students from these communities.
As for creeping egalitarianism, I think that may be in the eye of the beholder. Hopefully, that term is not code language for criticizing our society's efforts to increase educational opportunity. I believe that increased educational opportunity is not at odds with academic rigor and work hard to promote both. Given increasing global economic and political competition, we should be strengthening our nation's ability to compete by educating well the broadest array of citizens possible.
4. swish - March 08, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I like the expression in the first comment "placing students in the wrong environments." The expression "dumbing down," while essentially accurate, is unfortunate. It might be taken to imply that those kids holding back the rest of the class in those "wrong environments" are dumb. Most are not. Their talents may lie elsewhere, and/or they may simply not be ready to learn certain things at the same time as the "average" student.
College is more flexible than K-12 for individual students and learning styles -- at least students get to pick their own majors, classes and schedules -- but many people have abilities that are not well-served by college at all. Pushing such people into such a "wrong environment" (and discouraging them from dropping out) can really hurt their career chances (not to mention the self-image!)
If we want to educate the "broadest array of citizens possible" we should offer many more alternatives to college, more internships, apprenticeships, and specific job training programs, to provide that education. (And do the same in the lower grades, too!)