Februrary 2008 No. 9Table of Contents |
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A close look at how American kids spend their “2 million minutes” in high school—compared to their counterparts in India and China—will show you why these rousing economic giants see each other as competitors but not the USA. “They see America as rich consumers,” says successful venture-capitalist-turned-filmmaker Bob Compton.
When he asked first-graders in Asia what they wanted to be when they grew up, most said an engineer or scientist. Back home in Carmel, they said rock stars and pro athletes. That’s the crux of what Compton calls the “economic tectonic shift.”
Hoosier teens spend far less time on academics than kids in India and China, who have longer school years, Saturday classes, and loads of homework. Indian kids spend 40% more and Chinese kids nearly twice as much time doing school work than USA students—that means Chinese youth devote 28% of the 2 million minutes of their high-school years studying, compared to 14% for Hoosiers. Multiply that by the two nation’s 1.5 billion populations, that each dwarf the USA by four times, and you see where global economic power is headed.
“The Indians and Chinese treat academics the way we treat sports,” Compton told Indiana Business magazine. “My priority is to make sure my girls are globally competitive and able to face anyone fearlessly. How many American parents think that way?”
As India’s Tata bids for auto groups that Ford bought from Britain and China buys 20% of Morgan Stanley, so goes the USA. In future years, will our youth have to take their high-tech graduate degrees and go abroad to find challenging jobs? Parents can go to www.indianmathonline.com to see if their child’s proficiency meets Indian standards. Most of the site’s users are Chinese and Indian parents living in the USA wanting to make sure their kids are not falling behind with their Asian peers.
But then, the Indiana Science and Technology Institute also reported that of the jobs in the Indpls-Carmel metro area only 3.7% are science and engineering based. Microsoft’s Bill Gates just finished a 5-campus tour calling for a “second digital decade” requiring people educated in math and science.
“We now are no longer competing against Raleigh, Austin and Seattle,” Compton said. “We’re competing against Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Shanghai and Beijing.” Compton got the Venture Club of Indiana’s prestigious Cy Smith Award for his passionate support of Hoosier entrepreneurs. Check out www.2mminutes.com to get a taste of what Compton’s thinking is all about (and his DVD).
Since 2003, the Indiana University Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) has conducted nonpartisan public opinion surveys on education issues. K-12 is still a “state policy priority in general,” CEEP reports, but the property tax reform debate and future of inter-governmental relations, including schools, shaped its 2007 survey. Here are the 2007 findings:
See www.ceep.indiana.edu/projects/PDF/
POS_Ed_IN_20080108.pdf for the full detailed report.
Although enrollment of Hoosier kids in high school “advanced placement” courses increased 12% last year, a global study found U.S. 4th, 8th, and 10th graders trailing behind their peers in Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, and Australia. See www.air.org/news/documents/Release200511math.htm.
The University of Notre Dame announced it’s increasing tuition this fall by 4.8% to $36,340 plus room and board at $9,828, for a four-year non-inflation adjusted cost of $184,672. A new study—Squeeze Play: How Parents and the Public Look at Higher Education Today—found “the bloom is off the rose.” “College costs as a share of household income have doubled for all but the wealthiest Americans since 1980,” said Public Agenda.
Americans think a college education is a fundamental necessity; they give universities high grades, but rising costs “cloud the picture.” More fear that getting their kids a college degree is threatened by the growing cost vs. income gap. Minority families worry even more. Today, a 4-year degree takes 123% of average income for families in the poorest fifth of Americans and 34% in the middle fifth, according to the College Board. Student debt has doubled over the decade.
The portion of Americans that think many youth today will be unable to afford college has grown from 47% in 2000 to 62% last fall. Yet, the public believes colleges can maintain quality and expand access and still hold down cost creep. See the report at www.publicagenda.org/higheredcostforum.
Some universities are responding by reducing costs based on the family’s income. Stanford University announced it will no longer charge tuition to students whose families earn less than $100,000/year and also waive room/board fees for under $60,000/year. Yale and Harvard universities are likewise paring down costs for students from lower- to middle-income families, partly due to “growing pressure from state and federal lawmakers,” said USAToday. Senator Grassley wants 5% of university endowment income to be used to reduce tuition instead of building bigger stadiums, just as federal law requires of foundations, a rule from which universities are now exempt. Universities argue they are competing with each other, unlike foundations. Stay tuned.
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