American educational system of learning has been placed the best in the world best system by analysts. America herself has been rated the best country to work and live in the continent. However, the educational system of higher learning has experienced many challenges and in the way it is implemented. The system has undergone major changes and policy implementations for the last few decades to shape it as the world’s best. Though it have been said to be the best higher education system globally, we tend to overlook issues that the system struggles with its quest to maintain its position in the continent.
The American higher education came just before the coming together of U.S. as a nation. Since then, it has undergone very many changes with a sole aim of making it the global leader in Education. This was aimed at ensuring that all the people that go through the system receive the best quality education there is. This has been spread across the board to involve public learning institutions, college’s preparatory institutions as well as the private preparatory learning institutions. Change has been a major element of development I the world. In every stage in life, there constant call to change so as to conform to the standards of the given time. This therefore has seen the American higher education system subjected to change from time in memorial. These changes are both by design and by accident.
The U.S. government has never had a ministry in the government or a management committee to oversee the running of the higher education system. The federal government only influences the system indirectly mostly in channeling of funds, research and subsidy of loans to the students. The state governments are authorized to supervise the running of the system in their respective states. The state governments in turn give authority to Board of Trustees to be the legal managers of the system. (Torres, Alberto).
American higher education system has a very long history dating back to as far as 1636. This is the year Harvard College in Massachusetts, now Harvard University was started. By then it was a small church affiliated institution. This is the same year when Yale and William and Mary opened their doors to church affiliation. William and Mary sought affiliation with the Church of England. The main aim of the colleges by then was to raise some chosen males in the issues of ministry using a traditional broad-minded program. In fact, by 1775, there were only 750 students attending college in America. All were male. An institution like Harvard College had only three professors prior to the 1700s. By the mid 1700s, the role of the church was slowly diminishing and the original role of preparing men for ministry slowly faded to accommodate a broad perspective in learning. Even at this time, the role of the government in the leadership of colleges and universities remained unclear.
Before 1776, the U.S. did not have a constitution. This means that there was no stated rule to govern the system. After the revolution in 1776, the U.S. constitution gave power to state government the role of oversight over all systems of learning including Higher Learning. It is worth noting that institutions of higher learning such as; Harvard, William and Mary, Princeton, Columbia and Pennsylvania among others are the oldest with their history going as far as the colonial era. They are remembered as monuments of honor that have helped raise leaders in America and the world at large. They are part of a long list of National shrines. As the world evolves, many people have found worth in the education that is gained from these institutions of higher learning. This has seen the need to adopt measure as well as policies that will govern the institutions in world standards.
According to economists, education accounts for 10 to 25 percent of the annual economic growth in America. This in turn means education plays a major role in determining how well America competes with her business and political rivals globally. It also determines how well her citizens understand and engage in political as well as social issues in the society. This on the other hand leads to healthier living and prolonged lifespan among others.
Through the ages, American higher education system has been many oppressing forces that have made it lose its glory in the global market. They range from political influence, commercial viability, independence from charity funding and even policy governance. All the stakeholders are doing their best to ensure that the system stays afloat amidst competition from within and outside the nation. (Johnson, David. Emanuel, Ellen. Mack, Mary)
Management has been the most influential force that has left the system in a compromising situation. It is a tight challenge of balancing the economic factor of the Higher education system versus providing quality affordable education for Americans. At times the system has had to compromise for political or commercial reasons. It has gone through sharp criticism from many quarters due to this. Its management issues can be summed up in three levels; its functions, funding principles and how it implements its core roles.
The national framework that governs the higher education system is based on many factors among them political and commercial. This therefore has led to instances of compromise in the education system. It makes the whole system lose its competitive edge over the global competition. Political interference has played a major role in delay of implementation of many education policies that were initially marked to boost the quality level of the higher education system. This is mainly due to the fact that the federal government has no direct mandate of control over the system. This at time has left the state government and the respective Board of Trustees the having the final say as to the running of the colleges and universities.
A good example is in 1994; the national council on the history standard of the U.S. finished its assignment on possible recommendation to the American higher education system. It proposed that all level of students in secondary level learn the entire history of the U.S. The group consisted of around two hundred historians and educational representatives from all over the U.S. picked from all the states. In the same year, the findings generated a lot of controversy and Lynne Cheney who had funded the research when she was heading the National Endowment for the Humanities came openly against it. The U.S. voted out the recommendation.
The system has also faced perception issues such as teaching staff. Contrary to many beliefs, many felt that all good lecturers can be termed as good researches and vice versa. Research and lectures are different fields and therefore require different approach all together. On the other hand it’s very tricky to maintain a creative research program without funds and a dedicated team of lecturers. Due to the constant funding cut, it leaves the institutions on a compromising situation between maintaining top of the art quality and lowering their operational budgets.
It is in this context that the American higher education system has been left in a compromising situation over the decades. It has been made worse by the fact that the national policies are not upheld to the letter. This brings conflict between government institutions, also called public learning centers and private learning and preparatory centers. As far as intake requirements and curriculum management is concerned, the policies tend to lean on the side of government institutions and therefore leaves the private learning institutions in a compromising situation in the urge to compete with each other.
In addition, the policies that govern the financial sector have been faulted to be compromised too. This leaves the learning institutions at the mercies of the annual inflation levels. In every fiscal year, tuition fees are increased to reflect the difference in inflation levels. As the decade goes by, many students loose the chance to be admitted in the Higher learning institutions due to increased cost of education. The gap between university and college admissions in terms of; race, class, and ethnic levels continue to deepen due to this factor. The higher education system has found itself fighting outside forces that have deep influence on it. One of them is international exchange program. After the 9-11 attacks, America has found difficulty in coordinating exchange program and hence deeply affects the education quality in America.
The management issue is brought also by lack of funds to support the Higher education system. The U.S federal budget deficit has a very great impact on the success of the education system. Due to the deficit, budget cuts to the education system are unavoidable. The state government has held constant the level of financial support accorded to higher learning institutions. Keeping in mind the rate of inflation, it means that the available financial support every fiscal year goes down. This has led to increase in tuition fees every year by a margin of around 2.5 to 3.5 percent so as to strike a balance between quality education and affordability. This locks many students who can’t support themselves financially.
It is recommended that the federal government takes the responsibility to ensure the state governments have funds to support the Higher Education system. It would also be fair to make sure the the guidelines that were left out in the higher education management are re enforced or changed to better the system. One of the guideline is the Article two of the UN Convention against Discrimination in Education. It had proposed the necessity to have different learning institution based on gender language and religion. Whereas this was a nice idea, it does not support nationalism and therefore should be shunned.
The government should also revise its financial aid to the system. Maximum Pell Grant was one of the ways the system was funded. Statistics show that between 1979 and 2003, its support for the higher education dropped from 99% to barely 41% for four year public college. This will ensure that proposals such as the ones in Higher Education Act of 1965 are upheld to ensure quality access to higher education regardless of the race, religion or social economic status. The government should also formulate a way of supporting education preparedness in the lower educational levels to boost the quality all the way to the university and beyond.
In conclusion, all the stake holders in the higher education should take it upon themselves to ensure that appropriate student preparedness is achieved in the basic levels of education. Public awareness especially to those who did not attend post secondary education who feel that it’s not that important to their children. Financial support by the government should keep up with the pace of the rising cost of living. Lastly, the respective institutions should offer to create quality programs that meet the needs of the students and that give them value for their money.
Pillars of success in the American Higher Education system
Works cited
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k Kerr, Marian L. Gade, Maureen Kawaoka. "Challenges facing higher education in America." Texas Alcalde 16 January 2001: 88.
Altbach, Phillip. “Academic freedom: International realities and challenges.” Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 10 Nov. 2001: 205-219. Print.
Carson, C and Woodall, D. “Perspectives on Education in America: An Annotated Briefing, The Journal of Educational Research.” (1992259-265, 267-291, 293-297, 299-307, 309-310. Print.
Fischer, Karin. Crisis of Confidence Threatens Colleges. Washington, D.C. 11 May 2011. Web. 16 Nov 2012.
Johnson, David. Emanuel, Ellen. Mack, Mary "Current Challenges Facing Secondary Education and Transition Services: What Research Tells Us.” Council for Exceptional Children. (2002): 519-531. Print.
Torres, Alberto. Education and Social Change in Latin America. Albert Park, Australia. James Nicholas Publishers Pty, 1995. Print.
Trow, Martin. “From Mass Higher Education to Universal Access: The American Advantage.” Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 5 Dec. 2000: 303-328. Print.
