Hardly any young adults seemed to feel
that society owed them something;
most accepted their own responsibility
for building a better future for themselves.
school counselors didn’t give them
the kind of advice on college that
they needed. Guidance counselors are
undeniably overburdened, and student-counselor ratios are far from ideal
(Johnson et al., 2009). But we can’t let
ourselves off the hook on this one. It’s
time to get creative. The counseling
system needs to reevaluate its standard
practices and stretch itself beyond the
customary half-hour meeting in senior
year. We need to find ways for mentors,
community groups, local employers,
and local higher education institutions
to lend a hand in this crucial mission.
responsibility as well. Are we willing to
open up a path for all young people to
succeed? And what will it take to create
such a path? EL
1A detailed summary of the study One
Degree of Separation: How Young Americans
Who Don’t Finish College See Their Chances
for Success (Public Agenda, 2011), including
the full questionnaire and complete survey
results, is available at www.publicagenda
.org/files/pdf/one-degree-of-separation.pdf.
The project was commissioned by the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation.
How can we help part-time
college students?
Public Agenda research among young
people who drop out of college shows
that many struggle to balance work
and school. In fact, surveys show that
the inability to maintain this juggling
act is a leading cause of dropping out.
Most of these young people say they
cannot afford to attend school full-time, and having to work and earn an
income is the number-one barrier that
prevents students who have left college
from returning. What actions would
help them? Their top suggestions are
changing policies to make part-time students eligible for more kinds of financial
aid, having more classes on nights and
weekends, and offering more child care.
Are we working on these issues? What
else can we do?
several years as the emphasis on college
completion has heated up. U.S. policymakers have placed a needed emphasis
on getting more people to complete
college, and most economists say that
achieving this goal is a must for the
United States to thrive in the global
economy. But we often glide over what
we mean by “going to college.” Are we
just talking about two-year and four-year degrees? What about shorter-term
professional certificates and on-the-job
programs? Should we be offering more
options for non-college-bound students
that would help them improve their
prospects? And given their real-life situations, what can we do to make new,
alternative paths genuinely viable?
What do we mean by college, and what
happens to Americans who don’t go?
Finally, the research raises fundamental questions that have been circling beneath the surface for the last
The Ball Is in Our Court
It’s hardly news that the job prospects
are bleak for the millions of young
Americans who don’t get college
degrees, especially in a sluggish
economy. But in doing the research,
we were often struck by how much
resilience and spunk many of the
young people we interviewed showed.
Whether they had graduated from
college or not, most were thinking
about ways to improve their economic
prospects—promotions they might be
eligible for, ways they might be able
to go back to school at least part time,
and so on. Few were bitter. Hardly
any seemed to feel that society owed
them something; most accepted their
own responsibility for building a better
future for themselves and their families.
But in a society that prides itself on
giving everyone a chance at the
American dream, leaders in education,
philanthropy, and government have a
References
Baum, S., & Ma, J. (2007). Education pays:
The benefits of higher education for individuals and society. (Trends in Higher Education Series). Washington, DC: College
Board. Retrieved from www.collegeboard
.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/
trends/ed_pays_2007.pdf
Bushaw, W. J., & Lopez, S. J. (2010). A time
for change: The 42nd annual Phi Delta
Kappa/Gallup poll of the public’s attitudes toward the public schools. Phi Delta
Kappan, 92( 1), 8–26.
Johnson, J., Duffett, A., & Ott, A. (2005).
Life after high school: Young people talk
about their hopes and prospects. Wash-
ington, DC: Public Agenda. Retrieved
from www.publicagenda.org/files/pdf/
life_after_high_school.pdf
Johnson, J., Rochkind, J., Ott, A., & Dupont,
S. (2009). Can I get a little advice here?
How an overstretched high school guidance
system is undermining students’ college aspi-
rations. Washington, DC: Public Agenda.
Retrieved from www.publicagenda.org/
files/pdf/can-i-get-a-little-advice-here.pdf
K., Goeken, R., Schroeder, M. B., &
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nesota Population Center [producer and
distributor]. Available: http://usa.ipums
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Copyright © 2012 Jean Johnson
Jean Johnson is a senior research
fellow at Public Agenda and author of
You Can’t Do It Alone: A Communications and Engagement Manual for School
Leaders Committed to Reform (Rowman
and Littlefield, 2012); jjohnson@public
agenda.org
