The Online Degree Dorm Room

online degree programs psychology | What’s wrong with this picture?

Posted by bposton on December 21st, 2006 — Posted in online degree programs psychology

Here’s a few more sobering facts about the state of our college debt.

More and more students are working more and more hours in part time jobs. More than ever before.

The enrollments into college are way up, but the percentage of students who complete their degree hasn’t increased with the number of enrollments. In fact, a little over half of who are enrolled in a four year degree program will earn their degree in five years.

And while haveing a college degree is becoming just a jumping-off point for most careers it’s beginning more and more harder for the lower to middle income class to get a degree. That’s because the upper elite economic class can afford to send their child to the best primary schools, get tutors, SAT prep classes, essay consultants, you name it. So they’re becoming a larger majority of the new surge in enrollments.

Meanwhile, lower income students, and non-white students are winding up with fewer options for getting into college, and once they’re there they finish with a debt load that’s more than the $20,000 of debt that is now the average.

That’s IF they finish.

Statistics show that while 40 percent of students from the top 25% of the economic class in the country will get their 4 year degree in 5 years, only 6 percent of the students in the bottom 25% will acheive that same feat.

And while over 25% of white students that enter college get out with a bachelor’s degree, only 15 percent of black and Hispanic students will do so.

There is sometning very wrong with this picture…

I don’t claim to have the answer, but one suggestion is to speak up about this issue. Get involved in the process. Talk to school officials. Talk to your Congressman.

Maybe even run for congress!

This needs to make news. The media is spending all their attention on covering hazing parties and binge drinking. If this problem isn’t address, we won’t have to even worry about those things in the future…