College for All
On May 4th, Wabash City Schools Board of School
Trustees received a presentation by Wabash High School principal Mr. Josh
Blossom on the newly endorsed Wabash Early College High School. The endorsement—from the University of
Indianapolis Center of Excellence in Leadership for Learning (CELL)—is the
result of a journey that began four years ago, when Wabash City Schools adopted
a mission statement that meant to clearly articulate our desired outcome for
every student. We wanted a mission that
captured our belief that college should be for all students. Wabash City Schools provides a relevant and
rigorous education to ensure each student is college and career-ready for
success in a global community.
With the endorsement from
CELL, Wabash High School becomes one of 11 high schools in the State of
Indiana to be endorsed as an Early College High School and one of only 3 in the entire Northeast Indiana 10 County Region. Wabash’s Early College High
School model is a wall-to-wall or school-wide approach. The current pathway is a Statewide Transfer
General Education Core
Certificate. This
certificate provides 30 college credit hours transferrable to any Indiana state
higher education institution. As a
school-wide approach, Wabash City Schools is making a profound statement: we believe college is for everyone.
Why College for All?
The impetus for the College for All philosophy is based on
the changing workforce.
In 2010, the
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce reported that, “[b]y
2018, the economy will create 46.8 million openings—13.8 million brand-new jobs
and 33 million ‘replacement jobs,’ positions vacated by workers who have
retired or permanently left their occupations.
Nearly two-thirds of these 46.8 million jobs—some 63 percent—will
require workers with at least some college education. About 33 percent will
require a Bachelor’s degree or better, while 30 percent will require some
college or a two-year Associate’s degree.”
The Lumina Foundation has promoted the goal
of 60 percent of our workforce in 2025 will have some type of degree or high-level
certification.
According to a 2015
Lumina policy brief, only 34.7 percent of Indiana’s current workforce holds an
associate degree or greater, while Wabash County’s workforce is at 26.16
percent.
The
picture becomes desperately clear: our children are going to be left behind
unless we make education our top priority.
The Barriers to College For All Approach
Barrier #1: Defining College
The first and most pressing barrier to the College for All philosophy is the need
to redefine the term college. Wabash
City Schools believes in College for All
because for too long, we have marginalized or stigmatized our young adults who
chose educational pathways outside the 4-year degree pathway. Not a week goes by, that I do not engage in a
conversation about how to define the term college. Many still hold to the aged concept of college
exclusively meaning a 4-year degree pathway.
Those who often argue against college
for all typically argue with this pathway in mind. They cite evidence that 4-year degree pathway
students are finding themselves unemployed or underemployed with an incredible
amount of school debt.
Wabash City Schools believes that we need to broaden this
concept for a more inclusive definition.
College is any training, credentials or degree pathway leading to career
and personal fulfillment. This means
apprenticeships, certifications, and degrees leading to career outcomes are all
considered viable college pathways. By
choosing to broaden the definition and keeping a universal goal for college for
all, our school maintains high expectations and removes the stigma often
associated with career pathways that do not fit the traditional 4-year degree
pathway.
For those who argue that the college for all approach is
setting certain students up for failure by promoting the “wrong” type of
student, I challenge to look at a group of kindergarten students and tell
parents that their student is not going to college. We would agree that the 4-year degree pathway is not for every kid due
as much to student interest as to student ability; however, we do believe
college in general terms is for everyone.
Wabash City Schools believes college is for all students.
Barrier #2: 20th Century Mindsets
This philosophy will be criticized by many and from many
different viewpoints. The argument that
many communities who have a rich history in an economy based on manufacturing
and agriculture may argue that their parents did not require a college
education and have found a living wage.
This argument is dying faster than floppy disks and flip phones.
This
global community where
our kids will need to compete has been transformed through advances in
technology.
The environment was well
described by James Tanoos, “The state[Indiana] has held its own, but the
process to keep current jobs and lure the global manufacutrers of the 21
st
century is a hyper-competitive, fierce, continuous dogfight (Indiana Journal of
Political Science (2010)”
.
Career pathways that traditionally did not
require anything more than on the job training now requires specialized
training.
Manufacturing jobs are now
considered
advanced manufacturing pathways.
The last few years, Wabash City School students who have
attended Heartland Career Center have earned college dual credit in 12
different programs to include Automotive Collision Repair, Automotive Service,
Construction Technology, Cosmetology,
Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Electronics and Computer Technology, Graphic
Design & Layout, Health Science Education, Precision Machining, and Welding
Technology through Vincennes University and Ivy Tech Community College. If we can start talking about college in more
inclusive terms, then we will be able to remove the stigma of career pathways
that do not lead through 4-year degree pathways. In the traditional K-12 setting, there are 2
pathways: one is the Core 40 pathway leading to “college-ready” in the
traditional 4 year sense; and those who are not. Parents of students who have not been
successful in the Core 40 pathway must come into school and sign their students
off this pathway. Instead of looking at
pathway choices as the haves and have nots, we should provide multiple Plan A’s
for students. Pathways that lead to
technical certifications in welding and advanced manufacturing, should not be
stigmatized but instead, our guidance counselors should be promoting these
pathways. This intentionality and choice
of educational pathways will provide relevance to kids and keep them engaged in
their educational plan. At the end of
the day, we need to be promoting college for all.
Barrier #3: Is College a Good
Investment?
There has been a lot of discussion and in the press about
the rising costs of college and the rise in unemployment or underemployment by
college graduates. Images of 6-year
philosophy majors shackled by tens of thousands of dollars worth of college
debt paying it back over 3 lifetimes as a Starbucks barista come to mind. I believe this perception barrier derives
from the first perception barrier. When
we argue that college in a general is the golden ticket and we simply send kids
down a pathway without any counseling on college savings, job markets, degree
success rates, college costs, and college career placement rates, then I do
think this perception may become a reality.
But to avoid misguided college and career pathways requires intentional
conversations by both parents and K-12 staff.
Redefining college will help our students better understand their
options and not be overwhelmed by misinformation. Not all college pathways cost the same. Two year degrees and certifications may cost
as little as $4,000 a year while some state schools’ tuition can still be found
as low as $7500 a year.
With that being said, Wabash Early College High School seeks
to eliminate the cost barrier and open the door to college for all. Students
receiving Free and Reduced lunch benefits will be required to pay nothing
toward tuition at Wabash Early College High School while others may have to pay
no more than $25 a credit hour. Students
can complete their first year of a 4-year degree pathway for between $0 to 750
dollars. This will generate a savings to
families of between $4000 to potentially $20,000 worth of savings.
Wabash County has been at a national forefront of college
savings, beginning the conversation about college savings with all Kindergarten
through 3rd grade students and parents. 71 percent of our K-4th grade
students currently have a 529 college savings plan; the average percent of all
92 counties is 11 percent.
In addition to preaching a sermon of
college for all, we need to preach the importance of early college
savings for all.
Indiana 529 college
savings plans can be used for college expenses beyond just tuition and books
but also room and board costs and other supply and equipment required by the
college experience.
Furthermore, the
plan can be used for any type of college as long as it is eligible to
participate in the U.S. Department of Education student financial aid program.
Despite the concern of college costs, data would support
that college graduates are still outperforming high school graduates.
In a 2014 policy brief, unemployment rates for
college graduates is 14.4 percent less and underemployment rates are 24.7
percent less than their peers with only a high school diploma.
If we can remove these 3 barriers, then we can create
significant change in Wabash County.
Redefining college, understanding the current workforce demands and
addressing college costs will open life-long opportunities for all of our kids
and Wabash County. By demonstrating Wabash County is a leader in workforce development, we provide an invaluable tool in recruiting jobs to the county and the region. Thanks to Wabash Early
College High School, all students will have greater opportunities regardless of their college and career pathway.
Tanoos, James. (2010). The State of Hoosier
Manufacturing. Indiana Journal of Political Science, 12(12), 58-67.
HEIDI SHIERHOLZ , A LY SSA D AVIS , AND
WILL KIMBALL. “The Class of 2014: The Weak Economy is Idling Too Many Young
Graduates”. Economic Policy Institute:
EPI Briefing Paper. May, 1, 2014.
No.377, 3-4.
