Barack Obama is fond of saying that the American dream is alive and well and that he is living proof of it. He came from humble beginnings and is now President. His wife reiterated this theme in a recent article in USA Weekend. Paying tribute to her parents, she wrote, “They’re my proof that the American promise endures. It’s that promise we all share – that our children might grow up with unlimited possibility, that our families might know the dreams of opportunity and prosperity.” ( Obama, 2009, p.8) While the American dream is working for the Obamas.
It is fading for many of our citizens because the road to that dream runs through college, and it’s a restricted access highway. Multiple reports show a consistent correlation between educational attainment and individual or family income. From high school grads to professional degrees, income goes up with every rung on the educational ladder. This income disparity is widening. (Mortenson, 2008) Between 1973 and 2007 changes in real family income based on the education of the householder were as follows:
Some high schools -15.7%
High school graduate +3.3%
Some colleges +14.8%
Bachelor’s degree +36.3%
Advanced degree +48.3%
High school grades are making almost the same as they did 25 years ago while the income of college grads has gone up substantially. These data are clear. “The dreams of opportunity and prosperity,” Michelle Obama wrote about are only available to those who go to college. The problem is that college attainment in the US has been stagnant since the mid-’70s at just under 30%. High school and college graduation rates increased steadily from 1940 to the mid-’70s but then they stopped growing. (Mortenson, 2008) Why? It’s not because only 30% of the population is able to do college-level work. It’s because college leaders and policymakers have made decisions that restricted access. In future blogs, I’ll spell out specific decisions such as raising admission standards, shifting from the need to merit-based aid, and building lavish facilities. We need to make different decisions to open the door to college and the American dream for more citizens.
Kaplan University has been piloting blended learning courses in Singapore since August 2009 and we have noted that–with advanced communications, business relationships, political alliances, and environmental issues–we are becoming a globally interdependent world. Foreign faculty and students need opportunities and experiences in which they can explore global realities that are shaped by both a multicultural and an interconnected world. At Northern Arizona University, the Center for International Education helps “students to learn about the interaction among diversity, environmental sustainability, and global engagement.” At Wichita State, their mission is to provide all students with at least one global learning experience “through modern communication technologies and interaction with learners and faculty of diverse cultures.”
