Both the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Jared Bernstein and University of Missouri-St. Louis political scientist Kenneth Thomas flagged some data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showing that America’s college graduation rate hasn’t improved in 30 years. “Not only are the US attain levels now behind those of 12 other countries, but we’ve made no progress in a generation,” Bernstein noted.
On the chart, the blue square represents college attainment of 55-64 year olds, while the triangle represents 25-34 year olds. For the U.S., the percentages attaining a degree are nearly identical, which is clearly not the case for a host of other countries.
One of the problems stifling America’s educational attainment is the growing cost of college. Since 1985, fees and tuition have nearly sextupled, while outstanding student debt by some estimates has already cleared $1 trillion.
At the same time, Republicans in Congress are proposing cuts to higher education aid under the faulty theory that increased financial aid is driving tuition hikes. Under the budget which the House Republicans passed, more than one million students would lose their Pell Grants, which help low-income students pay for college.
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We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.
Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”
Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.
It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.
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