Sluggish charges of college-going amongst Washington college students have lengthy confounded state enterprise leaders and policymakers. So, it looks like a breath of contemporary air to listen to Robert Jones, newly put in as president on the College of Washington, vow to deal with the query of why so few highschool seniors pursue greater training.
The son of Georgia sharecroppers, and the primary in his household to earn a university diploma, Jones is adamant in regards to the significance of that piece of paper. State stories again him up: Fifteen years after highschool, Washingtonians who by no means accomplished additional research earn about $52,000 yearly — barely sufficient to reside as a single individual within the Seattle space, not to mention help a household.
In contrast, younger individuals who earn a bachelor’s diploma or apprenticeship within the trades take residence salaries roughly twice as massive.
Nonetheless, regardless of reams of information making this level — and unusually beneficiant monetary help supplied by the state — solely 55% of graduating seniors enroll in two- or four-year establishments, a determine that has continued for years.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Seattle Instances editorial board, Jones promised to confront this drawback by partnering with the Okay-12 system as no UW president has in latest reminiscence. He appeared shocked by the truth that Washington ranks 48th nationally for college-going, regardless of an financial system constructed on science and innovation.
“We’ve received to determine what’s occurring right here,” Jones mentioned.
It stays to be seen precisely how he’ll make good on this promise. As a scientist with a doctorate in crop physiology, Jones can’t assist stating that youngsters who’re behind academically by ninth grade are unlikely to catch up in time for commencement. Remedial training, he factors out, isn’t a college’s accountability.
On the job for simply 4 months, it’s nonetheless early days for Jones. However he has already identified some of the persistent riddles in Washington training, a forthright method that means a president keen to shake up the established order. And that’s a change that may’t come quickly sufficient.
