In Maryland, for instance, more than a third of the high school graduates need remedial math when they reach college, and a quarter need remedial reading. Indeed, many educators worry that college will be dumbed down to make certain everyone gets in. A lot of people get a 'proper high school education' in college, having received an elementary education in high school. It's nice to live in a forgiving, generous society, but, my, how wasteful of time and resources to do everything twice. Beyond the educational questions lie underlying concern about the expectations the all-college trend creates.
Society needs a reservoir of all types of skill sets.
Such qualms have been swept away by a rising tide of expectations. Meredith Ludwig, principal research analyst at the American Institutes for Research in Washington, said the portion of high school seniors planning to go straight to college jumped from 58 percent in 1982 to 79 percent in 1993. The portion of parents expecting their children to get a degree went from 74 percent in 1993 to 81 percent in 1996. But once the students get to college, many educators say, what they find is not a collection of great minds exploring the arts and sciences but a trade school in computers or business practices, no more academic than auto repair schools advertised on match covers. If the college experience amounts to passively sitting in class and memorizing abstract material which is soon forgotten, it's hard to see the value of extending that experience to even greater portions of the population.