Book dossier

The lowering of higher education in America

by Jackson Toby

"A top educator looks at the causes and national costs of the lowering of college admission and academic standards in the United States, then proposes confronting the problem by tying federal student grants and loans to academic performance as well as to financial need. Few in the United States will dispute the assumption that every high school graduate should be entitled to go to college regardless of financial need. But should everyone be able to go regardless of academic preparedness? Are federal financial aid programs, all of which peg student aid to need alone and not to academic performance, dragging down college admissions and academic standards to the point where America's schools, students, and economy will no longer be globally competitive? After a half-century of teaching, distinguished educator Jackson Toby concludes that all too often, our current system gives high school students the impression that college is an entitlement and not a challenge. The Lowering of Higher Education: Why Financial Aid Should be Based on Student Performance is Toby's unflinching look at this broken system and the ways it can be fixed. The Lowering of Higher Education documents just how far college admission standards have fallen, then measures the cost of remedial programs for underprepared high school students just to get them to where they should have been in the first place. Toby also pulls no punches on the issue of grade inflation, which rewards laziness while demoralizing hard-working students. In conclusion, Toby proposes an innovative solution: base financial aid solely on academic performance, creating a compelling incentive for students to develop serious attitudes and study approaches in high school."--Publisher's website.