WASHINGTON — Recognizing stark differences between global and American education, the American Council on Education (ACE) directed educators and administration to reconsider the nation’s investment in education during the closing speech of their 95th annual meeting.
The conference, entitled “Leading Change,” raised key issues on how to improve college accessibility and affordability in order to reach President Obama’s 2020 goal of becoming one of the most educated nations. NBC chief education correspondent Rehema Ellis, speaker of the closing ceremony, sided with the president’s plan and announced that higher education is worthwhile and should be priority. Ellis, known for her global media coverage, referred to her trip to Finland, where its egalitarian system enables tuition-free colleges for all full-time students.
“Although higher education is subsidized in Finland, it is astonishing how strong the country advocates education for its students,” Ellis commented.
While in Finland’s higher education, it is arguably easier to implement a tuition-free system considering its political structure, Ellis points out that the investment in education, both secondary and postsecondary, is significantly stronger than America’s. In her speech, she recalled a moment from her trip to Finland where she met with a high-school teacher who reflected on the rarity of high-school dropouts.
“I asked a high-school teacher in Finland how many drop outs she encounters per year, and she laughed and responded, ‘Only about two,” Ellis shared.
The small percentage of high-school dropouts in Finland holds true at the collegiate level in Finland, according to Ellis. China, like Finland, has a similar education structure that is well-enforced starting at the kindergarten level. Ellis shared her reporting experiences in China, where her research found that the country’s year-long schooling contributed to the students’ college readiness, and therefore, decreased the amount of dropouts.
America’s 1.3 million high school dropouts and 1.2 million college dropouts presented a desolate reality that educators and administrators were called upon to address. For Ellis, the high dropout level is a direct result of the financial model of higher education.
