Societal Factors of Greatest Impact to Higher Education

The greatest impacts to higher education are student preparation, because student success
and particularly the success of students who come from low socioeconomic conditions need to be
adequately prepared to endure the challenge of higher education, and government funding.

Student Preparation

Student preparation is important because until the K-12 system provides a proper
education the American student will suffer apathy towards higher education. According to the
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) (2006), “Scores on the 2005 ACT exam showed
that U.S. students are continuing to graduate from high school unprepared for college science
and math courses” (para. 1). Although this report on student preparedness is full of bad news
there is a silver lining. While students are unprepared for higher education as indicated by ACT
scores a record number of students are taking the test. “This increase included a jump in the
number of minority students, who now make up 27% of all ACT test-takers. The number of
Hispanic test-takers has risen by 40 percent since 2001, and 23% more African American
students” (para.5). The ACT test is in an indicator of students’ interest in attending institutions
of higher education.

Government Funding

As we learned in Module 7 the rising cost of tuition is creating an increasing hardship on

students. This hardship is particularly difficult on middle class students who do not qualify for
many types of federal grants. According to Tom Hayden (2010), “Students today, - even those
who hold two part-time jobs—fall tens of thousands of dollars into debt, a burden that limits
their career choices. ...; Meanwhile, increases in the cost of college exceed inflation every year,
intensifying the squeeze” (para. 3). Hayden goes on to explain that we have made choices, “As a
country—to relentlessly privatize our public institutions; to eventually spend three trillion dollars
on the war in Iraq; to bail out billionaires on Wall Street while hitting students with repeated
tuition increases” (para. 7).

References

Hayden, T. (2010). We can't afford to be quiet about the rising cost of college. Retrieved August
16, 2010 from http://chronicle.com/article/Rising-Cost-of-College-We/64813/

NSTA. (2006). ACT scores show students unprepared for college. Retrieved August 16, 2010
from http://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=51491