The 17th Annual Emperor's Awards

[Mark S.]

Dear Irascible Professor Readers, Writers, and Colleagues:

Once again Poor Elijah (Peter Berger) skewers the American education
establishment for some of its more egregious follies of the past
year. Read the article in its entirety at:

http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-01-02-11.htm

Sincerely,

Dr. Mark H. Shapiro
Editor and Publisher
The Irascible Professor
http://irascibleprofessor.com

[Pubkeybreaker]

Post by Mark S.
Once again Poor Elijah (Peter Berger) skewers the American education
establishment for some of its more egregious follies of the past
http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-01-02-11.htm
Sincerely,
Dr. Mark H. Shapiro
Editor and Publisher
The Irascible Professorhttp://irascibleprofessor.com

The article states:

"With American students still lagging behind their international
peers, having
fallen from first to twelfth place worldwide in college graduation
rates"

This statement shows innumeracy on the part of the author. In
particular
"college graduation rate" is meaningless. Is this the percentage of
the
entire population of the U.S. who graduates college, or is it the
percentage
of students who enter and then graduate?

It is clear that too many students go to college. Many colleges will
accept
any warm body who can cough up the tuition. Too many entering
students
simply should not be in college.

If the "college graduation rate" means the percentage of students who
enter
and graduate, it must also be accompanied by data showing the
percentage
of the entire population who attend college. As this increases, we
can expect
more and more students will not finish.