Soaring cost of post-secondary education in the United States has been a major area of focus in the media, in research, in households, and in the eyes of the public for many years. Students who forgo college are left at a disadvantage, as a bachelor’s degree has become a commonplace minimum requirement for entry-level positions. Students who do complete a bachelor’s degree are drowning in student debt and often end up defaulting on their loans. However, cost of education is only one of the issues meddling in the US educational system that is hurting young people in the United States, their families and futures, and the US workforce and economy in general: efficiency.

The fact of the matter is, the post-secondary educational system in the United States is one of the least efficient in the developed world. What does this mean? It means that the majority of students who enter post-secondary education do not graduate with their degrees on time, and many do not end up graduating at all. The system is meant to facilitate a bachelor’s degree completed in four years, or an associate’s completed in two. The reality is, these programs are not working. Even students who attend these programs full-time are not graduating in the number of years these degrees allegedly take to complete. According to CBS News in an article published in 2015, only 39% of all full-time college students in the US were able to earn their bachelor’s degree in four years. Only 59% of all full-time college students were able to graduate in six years. At the same time, every additional year piles on even more student debt.

Why is this?

One of the reasons is that many students are working while attending school to offset the enormous cost of college. Working and going to school full-time hamper’s a student’s ability to focus in class – or at work for that matter – maintain excellent school attendance, or do their best on projects. Students end up taking time off, taking on a reduced course load pushing their completion date back, or dropping out entirely. What happens to the remaining 41% of the students who don’t even finish in six years? They end up with no degree and a pile of debt.

However, many full-time students in bachelor’s degree programs do not work even part time when attending college or university. Why are these students still not graduating on time? The answer may be found in how much the US government is investing in quality education for undergraduate students. According to CBS, the US government spends $33 billion a year on academic research, but only $79 million to encourage quality teaching. Undergraduate students are clearly not a priority when it comes to how academics are funded in the United States.

If you have an uncompleted degree, you are not alone. This mounting problem has lead to creative solutions. Visit us online at thecareerpeople.com for a free consultation on your academic situation. You may have already earned a degree equivalency that can land you the job you went to school for in the first place.

 

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