UK vs. US; participation vs. graduation

Here is an interesting article (UK slant) on the state of higher education here and abroad. It examines our higher rate of college enrollment and our lower number (as a percentage) of students graduating.

"Wider participation can result in higher drop-out rate"

 

While this article was written from the British perspective, I didn't find it to be unfair to the U.S. system. Indeed, one of our strengths is diversity through inclusion. A broader, more normal distribution curve, if you will. As a result, there are going to be many people who either can't cut it, or choose not to. But many people who might be excluded otherwise will get the opportunity to excel, and will.

The author notes that 80% of community college students do not go on to university. That's okay. The community colleges serve a variety of purposes, university transfer being only one of them. They also do a great deal of vocational training. Some of their degree programs are designed to be "terminal." (Like nursing; not really terminal in the sense that you can't go on, but terminal in the sense that graduation results in qualification for state boards.) Community colleges are a place to go to learn specialized topics. My wife, a college graduate, attended community college recently to learn Spanish and Microsoft Office application software. She had no intention of transferring to a university; she already had a degree. She just wanted to learn more about Spanish and computers. But she would count as someone who didn't go on.

Note, too, the rather high praise the author had for U.S. universities. Even when concerned about what inclusion might do to completion rates in Britain, he still noted that most of the best universities in the world were in the U.S. (He also noted that we have a very few of the worst. How'd he find out about Century? )

 

UK vs: US?

One thing I have noticed is that when people debate the issue of UK vs: US educational statistics or accreditation standards, it turns into a battle of who has the better institutions of higher learning.

I see no reason why a pro-UK education advocate would not respect U.S. schools as the U.S. has some very fine institutions of higher learning. Some of us simply prefer UK schools, some prefer South African schools, some prefer Australian schools.

It needs to be remembered by everyone that statistics and accreditation facts do not take away from the fine schools both the U.S. and the UK have to offer.

I think we can all agree on that.

 

My original post noting a "UK slant" was not to infer that this was bias, but rather that the article was from a UK perspective.

 

Agreed David

The pro-UK education advocate I was referring to was the author of the article. I should have made that clear, my apologies.

I just wanted to convey the message that whether you are pro-US education, pro-UK education or pro-anything that works education just know that the U.S., UK, Australian, Canadian and many other educational systems have great schools and some not-so-great schools.