Immature kids

What is most concerning to me is the lack of recognition that enrollment increases at IHEs are going to have an inverse relationship with graduation rates if academic standards are to be held constant. Whereas in the past, let's say 40 years ago, the graduation rate at many colleges would have been higher, we also must understand that the demographics of the students enrolling in these schools was very different. They were better prepared educationally (and perhaps emotionally), wealthier, and less focused on the pre-professional function of higher education; they were also more male and white. The focus today by American society forces students to see higher education straight out of high school as the only alternative, whether they are personally prepared for it or not.

This does not even begin to address the need for a broader commitment by parents to preparing their families for the realities that will come when their children reach college age. Few families have saved any money for paying for college, thus compelling their students to work during school (one factor which research has shown negatively affects retention). Additionally, parents often Lack the discipline and wisdom required to help their students choose the proper IHE for them. Instead, they allow immature kids who may have had little supervision at home during high school to wander far from home, where their latent inhibitions will be erased and they flounder in "fun," while largely ignoring the classroom.

None of this denies the important work that IHEs must do to address proper recruiting methods and retention efforts. However, University Business (like many politicians) needs to move beyond the superficial and recognize that the issues are deep and complicated and that the beneficial outcomes might just include Little Johnny leaving college to work for a few years.

J. SCOTT WRIGHT, Director of Admissions

University of Texas

Southwestern Medical Center

Dallas, TX

IT'S TIME TO SPEAK YOUR MIND!

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