In the USA, many students attend college without graduating (see "Measuring Up 2006" below). Education costs have risen (much faster than inflation -- cf. Jonathan D. Glater, "Tuition Again Rises Faster than Inflation," <http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/25/america/web.1025tuition.php>) while real wages have stagnated, and students come out of college with big debts: <http://projectonstudentdebt.org/state_by_state-data.php>.
<http://measuringup.highereducation.org/commentary/introduction.cfm> The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education Measuring Up 2006
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* Internationally, the United States still ranks among top nations in the educational attainment of older adults (ages 35 to 64); but it drops to seventh in the educational attainment of younger adults (ages 25 to 34) (see figure 1 [Older Adults (Ages 35 to 64): <http://measuringup.highereducation.org/_repository/commentary/2006/images/Older2.jpg>]; Younger Adults (Ages 25 to 34): <http://measuringup.highereducation.org/_repository/commentary/2006/images/Younger.jpg>).
* In 16 states, the proportion of younger adults (ages 25 to 34) with an associate's degree or higher has fallen behind that of older adults (ages 35 to 64). These 16 states include those that account for most of the projected population growth in the United States, such as Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and Texas.
* In 16 states, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Virginia, the educational attainment of younger adults (ages 25 to 34) equals or surpasses that of older adults (ages 35 to 64), but still trails that of the best performance internationally.
* While the United States is no longer the world leader in the proportion of young adults (ages 18 to 24) enrolled in college, it remains one of the leading countries on this measure. However, the United States ranks in the bottom half—16th among 27 countries compared—in the proportion of students who complete college degree or certificate programs (see figure 2). Even states that compare relatively well with other states in college completion fare poorly in international comparisons. For example, when compared with other U.S. states, the best-performing state on degree completion is Georgia. When compared internationally on this measure, however, Georgia trails Japan, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, and Denmark. Moreover, California, Texas, Maryland, New Mexico, and New Jersey rank near the very bottom when compared internationally on degree completion.
Figure 2: The U.S. remains among the leaders in college participation … but it ranks in the bottom half in college completion.
College Participation <http://measuringup.highereducation.org/_repository/commentary/2006/images/Participation2.jpg> College Completion <http://measuringup.highereducation.org/_repository/commentary/2006/images/Completion2.jpg>
Source: Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Data represent the percentage of adults with an associate's degree or higher in 2003. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
