World News: Is college too hard?

Thursday, November 17

Education levels are on the rise in the United States. According to newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 79.9 million American adults - 35% of the nation's 25 and older population - have a bachelor's degree or higher. As recently as five years ago, fewer than 33% of American adults had a bachelor's degree. A college education has long been a key driver of upward mobility in the United States. However, enrollment costs at colleges and universities have soared in recent years, making a four-year postsecondary education prohibitively expensive for many working- and middle-class families. Costs are not the only consideration to weigh before attending college. For some small business owners and those pursuing a career in the trades, the military, law enforcement, or public safety, a bachelor's degree may not be necessary. (Here is a look at the highest paying jobs you can get without a college degree.) In some parts of the country, Americans are far less likely to have a four-year college degree than in others. Using 2021 ACS data, 24/7 Wall St. identified the least educated states in the country. In each of the 30 states on this list, the share of adults with at least a bachelor's degree is below the 35% national average. While the decision to attend college is a personal one, bachelor's degree holders have some clear advantages in the workforce, including higher earning potential. Median earnings in 2021 among workers with a bachelor's degree stood at $61,073, compared to $35,019 among working adults with no more than a high school diploma. Due in part to lower than average bachelor's degree attainment rates, in nearly every state on this list, median earnings across all working adults are below the $45,943 national median. (Here is a look at the states where a college education pays off the most.) Not only does a college degree open up higher-paying job opportunities, but it also provides greater job security. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate among bachelor's degree holders stood at 3.5% in 2021, well below the 6.2% jobless rate among those with only a high school diploma. Despite this broader trend, many states on this list had a better than average unemployment rate last year.

Are college classes too hard for today's students?

Today's newsletter gets us started by asking the question..." are today's college courses too difficult?"

The New York Times recently sparked a heated debate about academic rigor when it reported that New York University had fired a professor when students complained he was too tough.

Maitland Jones, a professor of organic chemistry and a co-author of a respected textbook, was dumped by NYU after 82 students in Jones' introductory organic chemistry course signed a petition saying the course was too hard and their grades too low.

An NYU spokesman responded to the ensuing outcry by insisting that Jones had been "hired to teach, and wasn't successful," pointing to poor student evaluations and a lot of withdrawals from Jones' class. Meanwhile, Jones asserted 60% of the final grades in his last course were actually A's or B's, only 19 of 350 students had failed and the real problem was that students simply didn't study enough. Read the full column.

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The White House's role in Native American history

Before there was a White House, Native American tribes such as the Nacotchtank and Patawomeke lived in the Potomac Valley region for more than 10,000 years, part of an East Coast network linked by interconnected waterways.

This photograph, taken by Mathew Brady during the James Buchanan administration, shows a group of Native Americans and white men by the South Portico. The Native Americans are believed to be representatives from the Ponca, Pawnee, Potawatomi, and Sac and Fox nations.

Library of Congress

Captain John Smith came in 1608 to a region dotted with villages near modern day-Washington, D.C., that had developed sophisticated trade relationships, agricultural innovations and advanced tools.

Within seven decades, all of this land had been claimed by colonists who settled Maryland and Virginia – including a prime location on the Potomac River that would become the new nation's capital city. As we observe National Native American Heritage Month, it is fitting to consider how the White House that was built on these tribal lands became central to the history that followed. Read more.

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