Page 326 - Crisis in Higher Education

296 • Crisis in Higher Education

To avoid shifting attention from the challenges facing higher educa-
tion to the root causes of the problems with primary and secondary
schools, actions are needed to (1) address curricular overlap among
universities, community and technical colleges, and primary and sec-
ondary schools, (2) prepare students better for higher education, and
(3) create lifelong learning opportunities so adults, even those without
a high school diploma, have access to knowledge. These three points are
summarized here.

1. Curriculum overlap:
a. Unlike the well-defined, curricula demarcation line between pri-
mary and secondary schools, the line between high schools and
institutions of higher learning is poorly articulated. As a result,
there are gaps and redundancies that make the transition from
high school to higher education more difficult and more expen-
sive than it needs to be.
b. There are also problems when students choose to attend a com-
munity and technical college for a year or two to save money and
possibly earn the first half of a two-plus-two degree. The courses
from the two-year institution are likely to transfer to the univer-
sity, but they may not count toward graduation, so students lose
the financial benefit they are seeking.
2. Unprepared students: Applicants are unprepared when they (1) fail
to earn their high school diploma, (2) graduate but do not take the
right courses, or (3) take the right courses but are given passing
grades, even though they did not learn what they should have. When
applicants are unprepared, students, parents, other family members,
friends, and governments pay the high cost of remedial courses at
colleges and universities.
3. Pathways to lifelong learning: Government is urging higher educa-
tion to create pathways for learning that allow high school grad-
uates, including graduates from the vocational track, to pursue
undergraduate and graduate degrees. Lifelong learning is essential
because (1) the refresh cycle for knowledge is becoming shorter,
(2) education is becoming more important for personal and societal
success, and (3) 15- to 16-year-old high school students, who feel
that a degree in higher education is unnecessary, may change their
thinking in a few years.