Alliance Challenges Leaders to Put Education Within Reach for All Americans
WASHINGTON
The Pathways to College Network — an alliance of national organizations to improve college access and success for the nation's many underserved students — challenged leaders in all sectors of society to make college education a realistic goal for all Americans. Its report, "A Shared Agenda," released in February 2004, includes nearly 100 research-based recommendations for state and federal policy-makers, middle- and high-school leaders, college administrators, outreach program leaders, communities and families.
"We challenge the nation to place a college education within reach for all of our young people," said Ann S. Coles, director of the Pathways to College Network. "These 34 national organizations created ‘A Shared Agenda' as a ‘to do' list for leaders in government, education, and all sectors of society."
The report underscores the achievement gap that still exists after three decades of national investment in equal educational opportunity.
• Only about half of African American and Latino ninth graders graduate from high school within four years, compared to 79 percent of Asian Americans and 72 percent of Whites.
• Of high-school graduates, those from high-income families enter college at rates 25 percent higher than those from low-income families.
• A child from a family in the top income quartile is five times more likely to earn a bachelor's degree by age 24 than a child from the bottom income quartile.
The full report is available on the Pathways to College Network's Web site at <www.pathwaystocollege.net>. n
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
