Has American Education failed its younger generation?

The idea of going to college amongst the current generation is haunting the education system in the United States.

An OECD report says, that the US is in decline in educating its population and is now the only major economy in the world, where the younger generation will not be as better educated as their parents a comparative educational study says.

When a high degree of adult skills that drives the engine of an economy is not present, then the engine is about to fail if the US government does not address its problem as it does not recognise the importance of education to the health of its economy.

Worse still – for children whose parents did not go to university then their chldren are even more unlikely to attend university. In other parts of the world, such as India and China the trend is quite the opposite. Having a graduate parent but who doesn’t reach university level themselves is becoming increasingly more common.

Clearly, it was the dominance of US higher education which was closely linked to its role as an economic and military superpower – after the Second World War. For example, an American born immediately after the war was nearly twice as likely to become a graduate.

But the high cost of education in the United States is a barrier and the thought of student debts is putting many people going into Higher education. This is coupled with a loss in confidence in Higher education and the belief that it does not improve life chances. This view is supported by parents  who do not see sending their children to college and it does not improves the life chances of their children.

The US education system is highly unfair with those who have wealth able to buy Higher education and it is no longer based on ability or merit and the freedom of entry is restricted to those who are wealthy. If the US does not recruit on talent and address it’s problem, then the economic engine will fail and its status as a superpower will decline.