Is a college education worth it?
More than half (52%) of Floridians responding to a recent Helios Education Foundation survey said they think it is — but that’s quite a dip from prior years. In 2020, 88% of Floridians said they believed a college degree or credential beyond high school was key to career success. In 2017, 62% shared that opinion.
Accompanying the shift in attitude is a decline in enrollment rates at Florida College System institutions. While state university enrollment rates have remained stable over the past decade — bucking national trends — overall high school graduate enrollment at Florida’s 28 state and community colleges declined by eight percentage points between 2010 and 2019 as more high school graduates have chosen to go directly into the workforce.
Paul Perrault, Helios’ senior vice president for community impact and learning, suspects several factors — including debates over student loan forgiveness and the culture wars — may be undermining public perception of the value of a college education.
His organization is staying busy countering that narrative with research that shows just the opposite and in September will release a report detailing the economic benefits of post-secondary education. “No matter what way you slice and dice it, you’re going to do much better and economically be better off if you get that high-demand certificate or an associate’s degree, and really, preferably, a bachelor’s degree.”
HELIOS REPORT
This month, Helios released a report detailing some key characteristics of students who successfully complete their transfers from AA programs to bachelor’s degree programs. Among its findings:
- Students who are enrolled at least half-time to full-time, rather than taking a course here and there, are more likely to finish their degree and transfer to a university.
- Students are more likely to transfer if they’ve earned more credit hours.
- Students who take developmental (remedial) education courses were less likely to transfer, whereas those who take so-called “gateway” math and English courses during their first year are more likely to transfer.
- The aim of the research, Perrault says, is to provide deeper insight into how students can stay on the path to completing a degree. “We don’t want students to take on debt and different burdens and not finish that degree. This research is giving us ways and things we should be thinking about to keep students on track.”
HIGHER EDUCATION
Enrollment Trends
- Florida’s high school graduate enrollment at state colleges declined by 8 percentage points from 38% in 2010 to 30% in 2019.
- Florida high school grads’ enrollment at Florida’s universities remained relatively the same at 21% and 20% during this same period, a departure from national trends.
- The number of high school students who are going straight into the workforce after graduating high school has increased from 19% to 30% since 2010.
Source: Helios Education Foundation