A Troubling Reason Why Too Many College-Qualified High School Seniors Don’t Apply
Posted on October 13, 2009 by Barbara Macaulay
In Connecticut each year, there are more than 10,000 well-qualified, thoroughly prepared students who graduate from high school but do not go on to attend college. Their reasons vary, but a recent study suggests that many of them could be in college, if only they knew more about how to pursue a college education.
That’s from this opinion column in The Hartford Courant by John H. Motley who is, among other things, a member of the board of trustees for the Connecticut State University System and chairman of the Hartford School Building Committee. The study he’s referencing and that supports his statement was done by the Institute for Higher Education Policy and their stated mission is to increase access and success in postsecondary education around the world.
The column is one that should be read by high school seniors, their parents, high school influencers and even middle school teachers and administrators. It is thought that the decision not to attend college is often made early… even as early as middle school and that if students were given more of the facts earlier they would more often pursue college education. I don’t think there can be any doubt about that.
But Mr. Motley’s column also ought to be read by anyone in any state who is concerned about the future of their region’s economy and its highly-educated workforce. As he notes, students from low-income families, with language barriers, and who do not have family members who have experienced college simply just dismiss the idea of even applying. Many of these learners are minority students. And, as he notes, minorities are going to be increasingly represented in the workforce:
The Connecticut State University System knows firsthand of the struggles facing these students. Nearly half of the students at CSUS — 49 percent — are the first in their families to attend college… Increasingly, it is upon the shoulders of these students that Connecticut’s future rests. A landmark study of the changing demographics of this region, New England 2020, found that by 2020 more than a quarter of Connecticut’s working-age population will be made up of members of minority groups, and nearly half of the 25- to 29-year-olds in Connecticut will be minorities.
Here is a link to the study: New England 2020.
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