According to an August 2011 study by the College Board, the majority of students who just completed their first year of college feel that higher education is vital and worth the time and expense. However, they are expressing regret that high school didn’t prepare them well enough for college. Apparently, high school students going to college are getting a pretty rough wake up call.
Nearly one-quarter of students in the study were required to take non-credit remedial courses during their freshman year, while 54 percent reported that their college classes were “more difficult than they expected in terms of what students needed to know and what was required to get good grades.” Getting ready for college is an essential task, and it’s a shame that students don’t feel like the job is being done well enough.
This is a frightening report concerning our nation’s students’ college readiness and our high schools’ college readiness standards. Imagine all of the students entering online education programs, nursing programs, or even an online psychiatry degree program, and the difficulty they will face if they aren’t preparing for college in high school.
Simply put, the curriculum taught in our high schools is failing in the area of preparation for college. If students are not prepared for college, they surely will face major difficulties during their time at school, and it’s necessary that some changes are made.
As it stands, high school students are only required to take a limited number of core subjects to graduate, which is usually four years of English, and a puny two years each of math and science.
While many students may be happy with the slim requirements, the study shows that 44 percent of students wish they’d taken “more math, science, and writing-intensive” classes so that they’d be better prepared for college. The percent of high school graduates going to college is relatively high, about 68 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so our schools are doing these individuals a real disservice.
It’s a shame that through the process of preparing for college, students aren’t required to take additional years of important subjects. In order to adequately prepare for college, students need to have a firm foundation of the basic core subjects, as well as an expanded repertoire of knowledge of various subjects.
The students want to know how to prepare for college, as 69 percent of the respondents in the study say high school graduation requirements are “very” or “pretty” easy, while 37 percent think it should be more difficult to earn a diploma.
It is time that we begin to take a hard look at how we are preparing high school students for college and begin to make the necessary changes to set students up for success in higher education.
What are your thoughts about high school preparation for college? Join the discussion in the comments below!
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