U.S. colleges must reach out to minority students to maintain this nation’s educated work force and to compete globally.
To a large degree, the decisions we make in the next few years about higher education will determine whether we will maintain global economic leadership or be overtaken by countries with a bettereducated populace and a better-trained work force. National wealth and security are determined more by investment in education than by the size of the military or natural resources.
There are troubling signs that suggest that we as a nation have lost our commitment to universal access to higher education and our passion for educational excellence. These signs are everywhere and unmistakable. Funding for colleges and universities has failed to keep pace with enrollment costs, and in most states the gap is growing. As a result, numerous universities have increased tuition costs beyond the reach of many students.
We must reclaim the American dream if we are going to compete successfully. This will not be an easy task. Every generation except for this one has achieved a higher educational level than its parents. And as grim as these statistics are, they are far worse for minorities. Population increases are driven largely by population growth among Hispanics, immigrants and other minorities. This is the work force of the future.
It is fair to say that we have not been particularly successful in educating minorities. Most of us are familiar with data that drive that particular point home. Permit us to share the Arizona data to illustrate the magnitude of the problem. More than 45 percent of the Hispanics in Arizona have less than a high school education, and only 5.7 percent have a bachelor’s degree. For myriad reasons, many Hispanics drop out of school before they reach the ninth grade. American Indians do not fare much better. The levels of educational attainment of African-Americans are better than Hispanics, but fall far short of the educational levels of Whites.
It does not stretch the imagination to conclude that what we are doing does not work for minorities, and that we should try different approaches and other models.
