Analyzing Articles in the Access to Higher Education - Article Example

?   Article       Article Ross, T, & Kena, G Higher education: gaps in access and persistence study, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012046.pdf The report is a valid resource in the academic community. This is because it is a statistical analysis report developed by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is the central federal entity for gathering, assessing, and reporting information associated with education in America and other nations. The report satisfies the congressional authorization to gather, assemble, and report complete and full data on the situation of education in America; publish and conduct report and specific assessments of the significance and meaning of such information. It also assists local and state education organizations in advancing their statistical systems, and examine and report on educational activities in different nations. The main focus of this report is to look at gaps in educational participation and attainment between males and females of different races. This report is relevant to my research in that it will also examine children in poverty and minority groups and education. It asserts that postsecondary attendance rates are largely lower for students from various racial and ethnical groups and lower socioeconomic backgrounds in comparison to Asians and Whites. In 2010, as consistently since 1980, a limited number of male than female 18-24 year olds were either enrolled in graduate school or college. There is also a difference in postsecondary attainment for females and males. According to the report, in 2010, 21% of children under age 18 were living in poverty. The poverty rate for people who were non-white was higher than that of the white population. This prevented the underprivileged population from accessing higher education (Ross & Kena 2012, p. 5). . College Student Alliance, 2011, Breaking barriers: a strategy for equal access to higher education, College Student Alliance. Retrieved from http://collegestudentalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Breaking-Barriers.pdf This is a suitable academic resource because a large number of students from numerous groups are still under represented in colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning. According to this resource, students from various groups are not efficiently represented in higher institutions of education in Ontario. In line with the resource, enhancing access to higher education for the underrepresented groups is largely perceived to be necessary in establishing a more equitable society and to challenging in the increasingly knowledge based economy. The last ten years has witnessed a tremendous increase in research on people who are not pursuing higher education, reasons for not attending, and ways to promote their participation. People experience interplay between different complicated barriers. They may be motivational, informational, and financial barriers. Financial barriers comprise debt aversion in an aid system or lack of funds to pursue higher education. Informational barriers entail insufficient information regarding financial assistance, mainly, benefits, and costs. 80% of learners aged between 20 and 24 from households earning more than $100,000 pursue higher education and 60% of learners from households earning below $25,000 pursue higher education. Almost half of youth in the top income quarter attend university in comparison a quarter of the youth in the lower income quartile. Among the recommendations include, one, the Ontario government commit to have secondary school learners visit a campus as part of the curriculum. Two, the government should continue aiding early outreach as a way of accessing post-secondary education. Three, the government should set an objective for the education system to augment post-secondary participation rates (College Student Alliance 2011, p. 30). Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, 2013, Higher education: the fair access challenge, Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206994/FINAL_Higher_Education_-_The_Fair_Access_Challenge.pdf This report is a valid educational resource because it addresses issues regarding higher education with regard to the recommendations in University Challenge. This report argues that higher education has a long way to go before it can be presumed to be classless. It is also relevant to my research as it illustrates a report by the Independent Reviewer of Social Mobility and Child Poverty, University Challenge: How Higher Education Can Advance Social Mobility1, which established that there is a compelling relation between a person’s social class and his probability of attending university. It asserts that participation rates in extremely disadvantaged regions rose by 30% between 2004 to 2005 and 2009 to 2010. Nonetheless, people in extremely disadvantaged areas are still three times less likely to take part in higher education that those in advantaged areas. There has not been a progress in participation at the most selective higher education institutions among the least advantaged learners since the mid 90s and the most advantaged learners are seven times more probable to attend them. Also, the likelihood of a student at a state secondary school entitled for free school food in year 11 being enrolled to Oxbridge by 19 years is approximately 2,000 to 1. Conversely, the likelihood of a privately educated learner being enrolled to Oxbridge is 20 to 14. Some recommendations include, one, establishing more stable links with state schools. Two, making proper use of contextual information in university admissions processes. Three is making a long-term pledge to increase the share of national resources from private and public sources towards higher education (Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission 2013, p. 8). Brock, T 2010, Young adults and higher education: barriers and breakthroughs to success, The Future of Children, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 109-132. Retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/20_01_06.pdf This resource is suitable for the academic fraternity as the author looks at logical research findings on the adequacy of a number of interventions meant to assist at-risk learners remain in college. The resource also highlights how transformations in public attitudes and federal policy since the mid 60s have opened up higher education to people perceived as minorities. Nonetheless, learners at two-year colleges are far less probable than those at four-year universities to conclude a degree. The resource further asserts that the country’s higher education system should do much more to ensure student success. The author goes on to illustrate three areas that should be reformed; they include financial aid, student support services, and remedial education. It explains that some higher education institutions have experimented with strategies to ease the financial aid application procedure and incentivize learners to attain sufficient grades and remain in school. Also, access to higher education has significantly grown since the mid 60s. Nonetheless, in spite the gains, higher education access is still challenging. There are still substantial gaps in enrollment between minority groups. For instance, in 2006, 44% of whites between 18 and 24 years enrolled in college in comparison with 25% of Hispanics and 32% of Blacks (Brock 2010, p. 115). College attendance rates of Hispanic and Black males are predominantly low. The resource also contains a current national survey of university-qualified learners who did not join university underscoring that availability of aid, college costs, and indecision about the steps required to enroll in college are still considerable restrictions. References Brock, T 2010, Young adults and higher education: barriers and breakthroughs to success, The Future of Children, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 109-132. Retrieved from http://futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/docs/20_01_06.pdf College Student Alliance, 2011, Breaking barriers: a strategy for equal access to higher education, College Student Alliance. Retrieved from http://collegestudentalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Breaking-Barriers.pdf Ross, T, & Kena, G 2012, Higher education: gaps in access and persistence study, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012046.pdf Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, 2013, Higher education: the fair access challenge, Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/206994/FINAL_Higher_Education_-_The_Fair_Access_Challenge.pdf Read More