America Has Always Had a Rather High College Dropout Rate

George Leef

In this week's Pope Center Clarion Call, I comment on the recent AEI paper by Professor John Thelin, in which he shows that there was no "golden age" of higher ed in America when most students who enrolled completed their studies and received their degrees. Even elite schools had fairly high dropout rates a century ago and hardly anyone thought that college dropout rates mattered -- except insofar as they hurt school finances. Thelin accepts the standard view that today's high dropout rate is "troubling" but doesn't make a case. Many of those who drop out are students who won't benefit much from college coursework. They're cutting short their losses on an "investment" that probably won't pay off.

  • Share

Most Commented

January 24, 2024

1.

After Claudine

The idea has caught on that the radical left overplayed its hand in DEI and is now vulnerable to those of us who seek major reforms. This is not, however, the first time that the a......

February 13, 2024

2.

The Great Academic Divorce with China

All signs show that American education is beginning a long and painful divorce with the People’s Republic of China. But will academia go through with it?...

October 31, 2023

3.

University of Washington Violated Non-Discrimination Policy, Internal Report Finds

A faculty hiring committee at the University of Washington “inappropriately considered candidates’ races when determining the order of offers,” provided “disparate op......

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

July 8, 2011

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Is Structural-Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism?

Professor Jonathan Imber clarifies concepts of sociologocal theory....