This is the generation of those who seek information. We have tons of avenues to get information about the world, you know, that big round thing inhabiting almost 7 billion people? I think that it’s a general consensus that being aware and up-to-date with what is going on internationally and domestically is important. Not only is it important to have this knowledge for the sake of being aware, but it’s important because it constructs our identity as people that live on this earth, sharing it with others. That’s at least one thing that we all have in common. We live on the same planet. Do you think that’s important?

Here are some different ways of reaching the outside world (and connecting to it), while simultaneously not getting too comfortable inside your university’s bubble.

1. Joining an activist club for anything international is something that is beneficial to you, your campus and others living internationally, who are being affected by your efforts of activism.
2. Read the newspaper. If your school does not provide free copies around campus then look online. USA Today, Wall Street Journal and New York Times are top notch for national and international news. Your local newspaper is where you will be able to find information going on close by. Reading your college’s newspaper will keep you up to date with important (and sometimes not so important) events and issues going on at your school.
3. Run for an office position, regardless of how big or small. Whether for a certain dorm or for the entire campus, being included in an office position allows you a lot of opportunity to get the inside scoop on what is going on with your college and gives you an opportunity to share that information with others. Use the power however you choose, hopefully for good and not evil.
4. Be a part of an on or off campus petition. If, of course, you are supporting its causes. Being included in the experience of a petition is very surreal because you are living in the moments that create change, actively being a part of the method to which authority figures make important decisions.
5. Following blogs and news websites is a great way to stay informed with what people’s opinions are on issues and they are consistently being updated with information and current events.
6. Talk with other people that are informed such as professors and students. Talking with people who have a similar context gives opportunity to agree and disagree, and then learn.
7. Listen to NPR. There are a range of several different topics that the station covers, every thing from Talk of the Nation to All Things Considered. Both are great programs. A 24-hour program stream of the station is available online.
8. Watch the news. It’s another great method of receiving information. And similar to streaming radio stations online, you can also watch the news online for programs such as CNN, or NBC.

There are several different ways to pay for college…

Deb: Um, hello. Would you like to look like this?
[holds out a photo]
Napoleon Dynamite: [Napoleon takes the photo and looks at it] This is a girl.
Deb: [Deb continues nervously] Because for a limited time only, Glamour Shots by Deb are 75% off.
Napoleon Dynamite: I already get my hair cut at the Cuttin’ Corral.
Deb: Well, maybe you’d be interested in some home-woven handicrafts?
[Scene continues after Rex Kwon Do TV ad Kip's watching]
Deb: … And here we have some boondoggle key chains. A must-have for this season’s fashion.
Napoleon Dynamite: I already made like infinity of those at scout camp.                                   Deb: I’m trying to earn money for college.

Though making home-woven handicrafts would be quite fun, you don’t have to earn money for college the way Deb chose to. There are other options.

1. Join an on campus group that offers free room & board. A great option for anyone with great leadership abilities who wants to be involved. For example, a Residential Advisor. Look into the benefits of positions on campus that are related to residential life and food services.
2. Attend your campus wide Job Fair: Bring a resume, dress well, and pay for college by working it off through an on or off campus job .
3. The Summer Melt is an opportunity few know about. It’s the time right before fall term when students resign their spots in a university, thus resigning their scholarship money. Writing a letter to your financial aid office asking for more money doesn’t hurt, and usually helps.
4. Write a killer scholarship essay, and use it for multiple scholarship entries. Kill multiple birds with just one sweet stone.
5. Join a free scholarship search service such as Fast web, College Board’s Scholarship Search or Sallie Mae and let them find scholarships for you to apply for.
6. Using Advanced Placement credits towards college means super cheap college credit.
7. Have the government cancel all or part of your educational loans by qualifying for loan forgiveness. To qualify for loan forgiveness you must match the criteria specified by the forgiveness program which can include community service, joining the armed services, and teaching or practicing medicine in certain types of communities.
8. Seek out jobs that pay your college tuition. Three national companies that assist employees towards their education are UPS, FedEx and Home Depot.
9. If you’ve got a knack for writing, or just have things to say that would be useful in any way to others, create a blog and make money through advertisement placed on your website.
10. Host an event (more likely if you are living in a house) and organize a house show with the musicians on campus, or host a Scrabble tournament with incentives. The suggested donation for attending should be posted as anywhere from $1 to $1,000,000.

Save Save Save

1. Accelerate your degree by getting yourself into an accelerated degree program, which cram a semester’s worth of content into a shorter amount of time. In an accelerated degree program, tuition is about half the price of a traditional degree program, while encompassing a greater intensity of work.
2. Bulk up on transfer credits! During the summer, enroll in classes at a community college that will transfer to your university and save you a whole lot of money.
3. Consider transferring into your preferred university after two years, if it is more expensive, while going somewhere else at first. Doing this will allow you to still gain the benefits of your chosen university while also taking away a diploma from the college of preference.
4. Create a budget to calculate the money you spend on coffee, late night fast food runs and other things that are unnecessary. Being able to track your money will help you save and spend responsibly.
5. Keep coupons of local grocery stores and follow weekly sales, avoiding expensive grocers.

In six years from now, a college student who enters university in the US this year has only a 57% chance of having earned a degree. If the student is from a minority then that figure dips well below 45% and if the student has the misfortune of going to one of our poorer performing universities then there is as low as a 16% chance that they will have graduated.

Welcome to America’s tertiary education system.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the US has one of the most well-funded tertiary education sectors in the world from both public and private sources. $19,476 is spent per tertiary student per year in the US compared to an OECD average of $8,418. With the emphasis that we put on education spending, it might be surprising to many Americans to find that we trail the world in many key education outcomes – especially in the tertiary sector.

In addition to some less than stellar results in our overall university performance, we also have more than our fair share of even poorer outcomes for minorities and students from lower income families.

When a wealthy country like America which spends, on average, more than double that of other developed countries per student in tertiary education, starts falling down the rankings in key education results, it’s time to start asking some questions. So what exactly is the problem?

(Click for Full Size)

How Bad is the Problem?

While better US universities compete comfortably with international institutions in graduation rates, some of our under-performing institutions have 6 year graduation rates as low as 16%. With the better institutions at closer to 80%, there is a massive disparity. Overall, almost one in three US students drop out of university compared to one in five in the 1960s.

In effect, the gap in institutional performance means that students with roughly equivalent entrance scores are more than three times as likely to graduate within six years if they go to a better institution.

The poorer performing universities include Chicago State University in Illinois (16%), Coppin State University in Maryland (19%), and Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus in New York (21%) while at the top of the pile in six year graduation rates are Merricmack College in Massachusetts (78%), Westminster College in Pennsylvania (76%) and Moravian College in Ohio (75%). Clearly there is room for massive improvement in both raising the graduation rates of the poorer-performing institutions as well as addressing the huge discrepancy.

Who is dropping out?

Studies suggest there are several main reasons that people drop out of university. Of the low income students who drop out of university, about half do so in good academic standing. That is to say, they were passing their courses. And while financial difficulty is a reason that people drop out, other reasons include false expectations of university (academically or socially), poor study habits or just plain old lack of motivation.

The National Center for Education Statistics also notes that drop out rates are much higher for both Hispanic and Black students. Other groups with high drop out rates include those who are the first in their family to attend college as well as returning adult students.

How Do Our Universities Compare to the Rest of the World?

While things aren’t so bad that we’re at the bottom of world rankings or anything like that, when compared to other wealthy nations such as those in the OECD, we start to see some worrying signs.

Overall 6 year graduation rates in the US are around 57%. By way of comparison, Japan’s 6 year graduation rate is up around 90% and South Korea and the UK at well over 80%. The OECD average is around 67%.

When the US spends more than double the OECD average on its students, there is clearly room for massive improvement.

What Are Our Universities Doing to Improve?

The figures suggest that the US tertiary sector has massive room for improvement. Certainly some universities are implementing programs that have been shown to have a positive impact on retention rates at university. These include social integration programs, multi-cultural centers, academic advisory centers and learning support.

It is, however, worrying that when the ACT contacted universities to inquire about their student retention policies, less than half had established a goal for increased first year student retention and two thirds had no goal for improving overall degree completion.

Clearly there is a lot of work to be done.