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A Current federal study A study of graduation rates at American colleges and universities shows that 40% of scholars haven’t earned a level or diploma inside eight years of leaving highschool. Graduation rates are even lower for low-income students.
Among students from families with incomes of $115,000 or more, 66% of those that enrolled in college between 2009 and 2021 earned a bachelor's degree or higher. However, amongst students from families earning lower than $35,000, 26% earned a bachelor's degree or higher in the course of the same period. Of those whose families had incomes between $35,000 and $55,000, 36% earned this degree.
Many people start but don't finish
The problem goes beyond the incontrovertible fact that students from lower-income households are less prone to enter higher education than students from high-income households. The problem is that fewer low-income students are graduating.
The data also shows differences in graduation rates amongst different racial and ethnic groups. While 50% of white students earned a bachelor's degree or higher during this era, Only about 29% of Black students have earned this degree, and 30.4% of Hispanic students have earned this degree.
Additionally, 73% of scholars who attended private high schools earned a bachelor's degree or higher, while 42% of public school students earned this degree.
Educational segregation
As I explain in my book: “Educate inequality“There are many reasons for these disparities.” A key factor is that low-income students of color are likely to go there poorly funded higher education institutions with low graduation rates. Now most of them are white and Asian students Attend well-funded schools with high graduation rates.
Additionally, underrepresented minority students are likely to major in well-paying STEM fields at a much cheaper price. Accordingly Federal data20% of white college students have earned a STEM degree, while 15% of Hispanic students and 10% of Black students have earned degrees in these majors.
Because race is strongly correlated with income In the United States, one possible solution is to push universities and colleges with high graduation rates to confess and graduate more low-income students. However, in our current system of de facto educational segregation, economic inequalities are increasing fairly than decreasing.
What makes matters worse is the incontrovertible fact that students of color often leave college with a legacy high debt. In 2019, nearly a 3rd of Black adults had student debt, while only 20% of white adults bore this burden. Meanwhile, the typical outstanding student loan amount for black borrowers was $30,000, while for white borrowers it was $23,000.
The combination of low graduation rates and high debt can significantly impact one's ability to repay loans. These loans usually can’t be settled through bankruptcy.
Even though President Joe Biden has forgiven some student debt, reducing overall debt barely, there remains to be debt $1.727 trillion outstanding student loans.
A significant slice of student debt is generated by for-profit colleges with low graduation rates. In Comparison While students who attend public, four-year colleges and universities tackle $3,000 more in debt and default on their loans twice as quickly, students who attend for-profit colleges face $3,000 more in debt.
At a time when many public and nonprofit colleges and universities are searching for this Increase diversity on campustheir very own enrollment and retention practices could increase economic and racial inequality.
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