A study by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research reports that nationally only 32% of high school students are ready for college. In their study, college readiness is defined as:
- graduation from high school
- completion of coursework required by four-year colleges, and
- adequate performance on a federal reading test.
Although 80% of high school seniors attend college, more than half require remedial courses to make up for what they did not learn in high school. With each remedial course taken, the likelihood of completing college drops sharply. Such statistics come as no surprise to college professors, who report that the majority of high school graduates lack the skills needed for success in college. The fact that employers hold almost identical opinions indicates that the skills that students need to succeed in college and work are converging.
Percent of College Professors Who Rate High School Graduates' Skills as "Fair" or "Poor"
Overall, only 52% of four-year college students and 31% of community college students earn their intended degree within six years. That rate drops sharply for African American and Latino students, and students from low-income families. As recently as the 1960s, low college attendance and completion rates were acceptable because the majority of the workforce—which was classified as low skilled or unskilled labor—could graduate high school with the knowledge and skills needed to land a family-wage job. Today, we live in a competitive, information-based and technology-driven global market. To be qualified for today’s workplaces, frontline workers and upper level managers alike require analytic thinking, high-level communication and problem solving skills. Occupations that require a college education are the fastest growing sector of the economy. High school needs to prepare all students—not just a handful of the most gifted—for college, work and citizenship.
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