Thursday, October 09, 2008
Generational Gains in Postsecondary Education Appear To Have Stalled, New ACE Report Finds
Washington, DC (October 9, 2008)—The tradition of young adults in the United States attaining higher levels of education than previous generations appears to have stalled, and for far too many people of color, the percentage of young adults with some type of postsecondary degree compared with older adults has actually fallen, a new report by the American Council on Education (ACE) concludes.
Click here for the Oct. 8 media teleconference on the release of the Status Report
According to the Minorities in Higher Education 2008 Twenty-third Status Report, the percentage of young adults aged 25 to 29 and older adults aged 30 and above with at least an associate degree in 2006 was about the same, approximately 35 percent. For Hispanics and American Indians, young adults have even less education than previous generations.
In 2006, among older Hispanics, 18 percent had at least an associate degree, but just 16 percent of young Hispanics had reached that same educational threshold. Among American Indians, 21 percent of older adults had at least an associate degree compared with 18 percent of young adults.
The postsecondary educational attainment rates of African Americans remained relatively the same for both age groups, at approximately 24 percent. Asian Americans and whites were the only two groups where young adults were more educated than prior generations. Sixty-six percent of young Asian Americans had at least an associate degree compared with 54 percent of older Asian Americans. The percentages for whites were 41 percent for young adults and 37 percent for older adults.
“It appears we are at a tipping point in our nation’s history,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. “One of the core tenets of the American dream is the hope that younger generations, who’ve had greater opportunities for educational advancement than their parents and grandparents, will be better off than the generations before them, yet this report shows that aspiration is at serious risk.”
The examination of postsecondary attainment between young and older adults is one of several new features found in this year’s report. It also contains enrollment rates for Asian Americans and American Indians for the first time. Previous reports were unable to do so because estimates could not be made reliably due to small sample size.
The Minorities in Higher Education 2008 Twenty-third Status Report, made possible with support from the GE Foundation, is widely recognized as the most authoritative national source of information on advances made by students of color in higher education. The report summarizes trends in high school completion, college enrollment, college persistence, degrees conferred and higher education employment. The report uses data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Among the Report’s Key Findings:
Total minority enrollment at the nation’s colleges and universities rose by 50 percent from 3.4 million students to 5 million students between 1995 and 2005. White enrollment increased from 9.9 million to 10.7 million, a gain of 8 percent.
Students of color made up 29 percent of the nearly 17.5 million students on America’s campuses.
Despite significant gains in college enrollment rates for young people from all races, progress was uneven and gaps widened. In 2006, 61 percent of Asian Americans aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college compared with 44 percent of whites, 32 percent of African Americans, and 25 percent of Hispanics and American Indians respectively.
Additional Findings:
High School Completion
The high school completion rate for African Americans aged 18 to 24 remained relatively flat over the past two decades at about 76 percent.
Despite improving their rate of high school completion from 59 percent to 68 percent, Hispanics still had the lowest rate among all racial/ethnic groups.
Asian Americans had the highest rate of high school completion at 91 percent.
College Enrollment
College enrollment among African Americans rose by 46 percent between 1995 and 2005 to nearly 2 million students.
The increase in Hispanic enrollment led all racial/ethnic groups, up by 66 percent to more than 1.7 million students. Hispanic enrollment grew faster at four-year institutions than at two-year institutions.
Asian-American enrollment increased to more than 1 million over the 10-year period between 1995 and 2005, up 37 percent.
American Indian enrollment grew by 31 percent in the 10-year period, up from nearly 127,000 in 1995 to nearly 167,000 in 2005.
Regardless of race, the gender gap in the college enrollment rate continued among young people aged 18 to 24. Thirty-six percent of young men were enrolled in college in 2006 compared with 44 percent of young women.
“This report demonstrates that educational progress, while significant, is not keeping pace with the changing demographic realities,” said Mikyung Ryu, assistant director in ACE’s Center for Policy Analysis and author of the report.
“The Status Report is an important resource to increase perspective and enlighten dialogue about the progress that has been made in access to education,” said GE Foundation President Bob Corcoran. “The GE Foundation applauds ACE’s research in this area.”
College Persistence
College persistence rates declined slightly, and these declines were more pronounced for students who began at two-year institutions, especially for Hispanics.
Among students who began at two-year institutions in 1995 and 2003, 55 percent of the 2003 freshmen were still enrolled or had attained a certificate or degree anywhere in higher education three years later, compared with 60 percent for the 1995 cohort. For Hispanics, this rate dropped sharply from 62 percent to 54 percent.
Among students who began at a four-year institution in 1995 and 2003, 81 percent of the 2003 cohort persisted, compared to 83 percent of the 1995 cohort.
Degrees Conferred
Minorities outpaced whites in the percentage change in total degrees awarded at all levels over the past decade. Minority women showed stronger gains than minority men at all degree levels.
The number of minorities earning associate degrees between 1995 and 2005 grew 84 percent to just over 201,000. The number of minorities earning bachelor’s degrees over the same period grew 65 percent to 355,000.
Hispanics nearly doubled the number of bachelor’s degrees received over the last decade to more than 105,000. Hispanics also made dramatic gains in doctoral degrees earned, rising from 950 in 1995 to more than 1,700 in 2005, an increase of 83 percent.
African Americans more than doubled the number of master’s degrees earned from nearly 25,000 in 1995 to nearly 53,000 in 2005. During the same period, the number of doctoral degrees earned by African Americans increased 84 percent from nearly 1,600 to nearly 2,900.
During the past decade the number of Asian-American men receiving doctoral degrees dropped by 10 percent, while the number of Asian-American women receiving these degrees increased by 74 percent.
Degrees Conferred by Field
In recent years, minorities and whites both experienced declines in the number of bachelor’s degrees earned in computer sciences. They also lost ground in engineering over the decade at the doctoral degree level.
Employment in Higher Education
Although minorities have made gains as college faculty, administrators and presidents over the last decade, whites still fill the overwhelming majority of these positions.
In 2005, minorities represented 17 percent of all college administrators; 16 percent of full-time faculty and 13 percent of college presidents.
For the fifth year, the Status Report includes a CD-ROM which features data tables and highlights from the report as well as charts suitable for use in presentations. The full report will be available later this month. Advance orders can be placed via the ACE web site.
Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.
The GE Foundation, the philanthropic organization of the General Electric Company, works to solve some of the world's most difficult problems. In coordination with its partners, it supports U.S. and international education, the environment, public policy, human rights and disaster-relief around the globe. In addition, the GE Foundation supports GE employee and retiree giving and involvement in GE communities around the world. In 2007, the GE family including businesses, employees, retirees and GE Foundation contributed more than $225 million to community and educational programs, including $93 million from the GE Foundation. For more information, visit www.gefoundation.com.
###
Click here for the Oct. 8 media teleconference on the release of the Status Report
According to the Minorities in Higher Education 2008 Twenty-third Status Report, the percentage of young adults aged 25 to 29 and older adults aged 30 and above with at least an associate degree in 2006 was about the same, approximately 35 percent. For Hispanics and American Indians, young adults have even less education than previous generations.
In 2006, among older Hispanics, 18 percent had at least an associate degree, but just 16 percent of young Hispanics had reached that same educational threshold. Among American Indians, 21 percent of older adults had at least an associate degree compared with 18 percent of young adults.
The postsecondary educational attainment rates of African Americans remained relatively the same for both age groups, at approximately 24 percent. Asian Americans and whites were the only two groups where young adults were more educated than prior generations. Sixty-six percent of young Asian Americans had at least an associate degree compared with 54 percent of older Asian Americans. The percentages for whites were 41 percent for young adults and 37 percent for older adults.
“It appears we are at a tipping point in our nation’s history,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. “One of the core tenets of the American dream is the hope that younger generations, who’ve had greater opportunities for educational advancement than their parents and grandparents, will be better off than the generations before them, yet this report shows that aspiration is at serious risk.”
The examination of postsecondary attainment between young and older adults is one of several new features found in this year’s report. It also contains enrollment rates for Asian Americans and American Indians for the first time. Previous reports were unable to do so because estimates could not be made reliably due to small sample size.
The Minorities in Higher Education 2008 Twenty-third Status Report, made possible with support from the GE Foundation, is widely recognized as the most authoritative national source of information on advances made by students of color in higher education. The report summarizes trends in high school completion, college enrollment, college persistence, degrees conferred and higher education employment. The report uses data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the U.S. Census Bureau.
Among the Report’s Key Findings:
Total minority enrollment at the nation’s colleges and universities rose by 50 percent from 3.4 million students to 5 million students between 1995 and 2005. White enrollment increased from 9.9 million to 10.7 million, a gain of 8 percent.
Students of color made up 29 percent of the nearly 17.5 million students on America’s campuses.
Despite significant gains in college enrollment rates for young people from all races, progress was uneven and gaps widened. In 2006, 61 percent of Asian Americans aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college compared with 44 percent of whites, 32 percent of African Americans, and 25 percent of Hispanics and American Indians respectively.
Additional Findings:
High School Completion
The high school completion rate for African Americans aged 18 to 24 remained relatively flat over the past two decades at about 76 percent.
Despite improving their rate of high school completion from 59 percent to 68 percent, Hispanics still had the lowest rate among all racial/ethnic groups.
Asian Americans had the highest rate of high school completion at 91 percent.
College Enrollment
College enrollment among African Americans rose by 46 percent between 1995 and 2005 to nearly 2 million students.
The increase in Hispanic enrollment led all racial/ethnic groups, up by 66 percent to more than 1.7 million students. Hispanic enrollment grew faster at four-year institutions than at two-year institutions.
Asian-American enrollment increased to more than 1 million over the 10-year period between 1995 and 2005, up 37 percent.
American Indian enrollment grew by 31 percent in the 10-year period, up from nearly 127,000 in 1995 to nearly 167,000 in 2005.
Regardless of race, the gender gap in the college enrollment rate continued among young people aged 18 to 24. Thirty-six percent of young men were enrolled in college in 2006 compared with 44 percent of young women.
“This report demonstrates that educational progress, while significant, is not keeping pace with the changing demographic realities,” said Mikyung Ryu, assistant director in ACE’s Center for Policy Analysis and author of the report.
“The Status Report is an important resource to increase perspective and enlighten dialogue about the progress that has been made in access to education,” said GE Foundation President Bob Corcoran. “The GE Foundation applauds ACE’s research in this area.”
College Persistence
College persistence rates declined slightly, and these declines were more pronounced for students who began at two-year institutions, especially for Hispanics.
Among students who began at two-year institutions in 1995 and 2003, 55 percent of the 2003 freshmen were still enrolled or had attained a certificate or degree anywhere in higher education three years later, compared with 60 percent for the 1995 cohort. For Hispanics, this rate dropped sharply from 62 percent to 54 percent.
Among students who began at a four-year institution in 1995 and 2003, 81 percent of the 2003 cohort persisted, compared to 83 percent of the 1995 cohort.
Degrees Conferred
Minorities outpaced whites in the percentage change in total degrees awarded at all levels over the past decade. Minority women showed stronger gains than minority men at all degree levels.
The number of minorities earning associate degrees between 1995 and 2005 grew 84 percent to just over 201,000. The number of minorities earning bachelor’s degrees over the same period grew 65 percent to 355,000.
Hispanics nearly doubled the number of bachelor’s degrees received over the last decade to more than 105,000. Hispanics also made dramatic gains in doctoral degrees earned, rising from 950 in 1995 to more than 1,700 in 2005, an increase of 83 percent.
African Americans more than doubled the number of master’s degrees earned from nearly 25,000 in 1995 to nearly 53,000 in 2005. During the same period, the number of doctoral degrees earned by African Americans increased 84 percent from nearly 1,600 to nearly 2,900.
During the past decade the number of Asian-American men receiving doctoral degrees dropped by 10 percent, while the number of Asian-American women receiving these degrees increased by 74 percent.
Degrees Conferred by Field
In recent years, minorities and whites both experienced declines in the number of bachelor’s degrees earned in computer sciences. They also lost ground in engineering over the decade at the doctoral degree level.
Employment in Higher Education
Although minorities have made gains as college faculty, administrators and presidents over the last decade, whites still fill the overwhelming majority of these positions.
In 2005, minorities represented 17 percent of all college administrators; 16 percent of full-time faculty and 13 percent of college presidents.
For the fifth year, the Status Report includes a CD-ROM which features data tables and highlights from the report as well as charts suitable for use in presentations. The full report will be available later this month. Advance orders can be placed via the ACE web site.
Founded in 1918, ACE is the major coordinating body for all the nation's higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.
The GE Foundation, the philanthropic organization of the General Electric Company, works to solve some of the world's most difficult problems. In coordination with its partners, it supports U.S. and international education, the environment, public policy, human rights and disaster-relief around the globe. In addition, the GE Foundation supports GE employee and retiree giving and involvement in GE communities around the world. In 2007, the GE family including businesses, employees, retirees and GE Foundation contributed more than $225 million to community and educational programs, including $93 million from the GE Foundation. For more information, visit www.gefoundation.com.
###
Monday, October 06, 2008
Anthology of Latino voices
Anthology of Latino voices
There are Latinos in Wisconsin?
(Above) Oscar Mireles; (far
left) a predecessor of this
Latino Anthology was
published in 1999
Daisy Cubias, a native of El Salvador, is a long-time poet, educator, and human rights activist currently residing in Milwaukee. Cubias often uses her poetry
to comment on human rights tragedies and political instability in her native homeland. In the 1999 “I didn’t know there were Latinos in Wisconsin,” however,
Cubias commented instead on the “tragedy” of high heels. She writes:
Why Women Wear High Heels?
Because we want to look tall,
being so short
and we want to feel good,
feeling so sad.
Later in the poem, she writes:
Who invented them anyway?
It was a man who hated his wife,
his mother, and his sister
because they were mean to him
when he was growing up
one day he decided to invent
a new way of torture
And punish all women
for life and centuries to come
He formed a secret society
and all men belong to it
for hundreds of years
they’ve been meeting
all over the world
to plan new ways of torture
to destroy female feet
to unbalance our bodies
In the end, Cubias calls for a revolution, telling women, “Let’s all go BAREFOOT!”
The newest anthology will also feature the work of the editor himself; Oscar Mireles. Mireles’ day job entails heading up Omega School, an alternative
school in Madison that helps students obtain their GED or HSED. In the past, Mireles has described Omega School as “access point” for students who previously
struggled in a traditional school setting to overcome obstacles and get a new lease on life. He also serves as board president for Centro Hispano, coaches the
Edgewood High School wrestling team, and tends to his four older children. His writing, he said, “is probably the only thing I do for myself. It is really how I
express how I feel and see things.”
Mireles said the idea for a Wisconsin-based Latino anthology surfaced after he encountered a number of people across the nation who uttered phrases
similar to, “I didn’t know there were Latinos in Wisconsin.” It is the voice of these diverse Latinos that Mireles hopes to share.
“What does a Chicano in Wisconsin look like?” Mireles mused. “One thing I know is that we look different than a Chicano looks like in California. [These writers]
share the common experience that they are in Wisconsin.”
Yet, each voice is different: in experience, in style, in message.
Mireles hopes, too, that non-Latino readers will take note of these writers and their words.
“With the focus on immigration, there is a lot of unnecessary fear,” he said. “People are here for the same American Dream. Our dream isn’t different.
Latinos want to make this an even better country than it is.”
While Mireles said there is a continuous theme in all of his anthologies that reveal a certain pride in being in the United States, there is also a certain
longing for that elusive home. Maybe sometimes there is also an awakening akin to what Mireles writes about in his poem “ ‘Love Mexican Style’ is not a reality
television show:”
or maybe
the natural rhythms
of old Mexico
have been awakened
Maybe, they have.
Salam Alaykoom Friends and Family!,
Hi this is Jesse Ayala Jr., writing from Cairo. The past month and a half has been unbelievable, as I have been all over Africa and have met a number of extremely interesting individuals Since being here I have travelled to the Giza Pyramids, The Sphinx, the ancient city of Alexandria, Hurghada on the Red Sea, and finally at trip to Kenya and Tanzania which included Nairobi, Masai Mara Game Reserve & Serengeti National Reserve and Lake Nakuru. Before I get into the details of my travels, I would like to tell you what I am doing in Cairo.
Zamalek
In Cairo, I live on the island of Zamalek, which is on the Nile River and considered the "Manhattan of Cairo." Each morning I wake up to the sounds of the city echoing off the buildings and the sunlight reflecting off the Nile River 12 stories below my feet. The flat is truly remarkable for Cairo standards and I love it. I share my apartment with 3 roommates (2 girls and 1 boy) and we live about a block away from the dorms where a lot of the students live.
AUC
While here,I am a student at the American University in Cairo, one of the most premier institutions in the region and the leading English language school in all of Africa and the Middle East. Formerly, the school was centered in downtown Cairo, but this semester marked a new beginning for the University as it moved an hour outside of the city to the developing area of New Cairo. Currently the university is in shambles as construction is way behind schedule, but I love it.
At school, I am taking extremely interesting courses, which are:
Introduction to Development
Third World Literature
Intensive Elementary Modern Standard Arabic
Zionism and Modern Judaism
SInce the classes are full of Arabs and US ex-pats, the class dynamics are very interesting (especially the Zionism course). The courses are set up a little like high school (with attendance taken daily) but I like subjectmatter. One thing that differs greatly from my coursework at the University of Wisconsin is the lack of lecture based classes. In my Zionism and Development courses, it is basically a discussion run by the class which the Professor facilitates. I am adapting to this style, but I don't particularly enjoy find it that affective in conveying ideas, since most of the students speak to get points, not to actually contribute to the discussion.
For the Intro to Development course, the first half is theory and the second half of the course is an internship with an NGO in Cairo. My internship is at what seems to be a consulting NGO called Nahdet el-Mahrousa, which I will start in early-October.
NGO Work
Outside of the confines of the AUC campus, I am volunteering as a English teacher for two programs. The first program is an NGO started at AUC called A Better World, which focuses on providing English language training and professional development for students at the public universities in Cairo. Since public university is free, the institutions are way above capacity which causes the education system to provide sub-par preparation and skill sets to the students. The situation is bleak, and must be addressed in order to reform the current political and social structure in Egypt. For this program I co-teach with a girl from Northwestern to a class of 30 students from all from the major Egyptian Universities.
The other program that I am volunteering at is STAR (Students Taking Action for Refugees). This program is targeted at teaching English refugees from all over the world seeking asylum in Cairo. The program helps mostly Palestinian, Sudanese and Iraqi refugees, although there are people in the program from all over the world. This program begins in late october and meets once a week.
Travels
As I mentioned earlier I have been traveling all over Africa and have loved every minute. The most amazing adventure I have done thus far was my trip to Kenya and Tanzania.
To mark the end of Ramadan, I went to Kenya and Tanzania on a 5 day Safari with 4 friends. We travelled all over the the region hitting up Masai Mara (the northern part of the Serengeti in Western Kenya), illegally passing over the border into Tanzania to the Serengeti and then up north to Lake Nakuru, While in the wildlife preserves, we observed the most amazing animals in their homes. We saw a giraffe fight, a lion chase its dinner, hippos relaxing in the water, zebras playing with one another, rhinos marking their territory, hyenas chasing flamingos, and a stampede of wildebeest crossing a river into the Serengeti. The sights were amazing, and the pictures can only hint at the real beauty.
After our stay in the wild, we also spent an evening with one of my favorite people in the world Alana Keusch in Nairobi. Although our stay was brief, we saw as much of the city as we could and the crazy night life in the city.
How to Contact me
As you can see, I am very busy trying to make the most of my time in Cairo. As such, I apologize if I have yet to respond to personal emails or facebook messages from many of you. (Currently my inbox is at 730 messages!) I will do my best to do that in the coming weeks.
If you are interested in talking or video chatting with me, please do. I am usually on Skype in the evenings after 6pm (meaning around 11am in Madison) My skype name is: Jesse.ayala.jr in the Madison, Wisconsin Network.
I am planning on starting a blog in a few days and uploading my photos to a public site. I will keep you posted on the developments as they rise.
If you are interested in visiting, you are more than welcome to stay at my island paradise anytime you would like. One big perk is that stuff is relatively cheap here (much cheaper than europe) and that includes travel. To get to the Sphinx and pyramids from my flat is a mere 20 minute cab ride (which costs around $5 USD).
I hope that everyone is doing great in the great America or wherever you are stationed! I love you and miss you all greatly- Ma Salaama!
Cheers,
jesse
--
Jesse Ayala
Project 40/40: Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative
Alumni Advisory Board Member
2010 University of Wisconsin Chancellor's Scholar
General Member : AIESEC-Madison, Wisconsin, USA
jesse.ayala.jr@gmail.com
Saturday, October 04, 2008
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