In part 13, we start to discuss entrance exams; plus, a new report warns about the rising costs of higher education in the U.S. Transcript of radio broadcast: 03 December 2008
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Many
American colleges and universities require applications for the fall term to be
completed by January first. But some have deadlines of December first. So
this was a fitting week for a research group in California to release its
latest "national report card on higher education." The National
Center for Public Policy and Higher Education calls it "Measuring
Up."
The report says the price of college has increased more than
four hundred percent since nineteen eighty-two. Costs have climbed much faster
than other prices -- as well as the wages of average families.
The
group warns that a continuation of these trends would put higher education beyond
the reach of most Americans. And it would mean greater debt for those who do go
to college.
The report also expresses concern that
the United States is losing its leadership in sending young people to college. Earlier
progress can be seen in the percentage of Americans age thirty-five and older who
have a college degree. In a comparison of twenty-nine countries, the United
States is second, after Canada.
But
today other countries are making progress more quickly. The United States is tenth
in the percentage of college-educated adults age twenty-five to thirty-four. And
it is seventh in the percentage of eighteen to twenty-four year olds in
college.
Also, a lot of students drop out. The report says college
completion "has never been a strength" of American higher education. Among
the twenty-nine countries, the United States is fifteenth in college completion
rates.
Completing
college first requires getting admitted. This week in our Foreign Student
Series, we begin a discussion of entrance tests.
Advisers
say a student's high school record is the most important consideration. But
most American schools require one of the two major college-entrance tests.
The SAT measures reasoning skills in math and
language and includes an essay question.
The
four-hour test costs forty-five dollars. The international processing charge is
twenty-six -- plus an extra twenty-three dollars in India and Pakistan.
Students
may also need to take subject tests. Information about the SAT can be found online
at collegeboard.com.
Next
time, we will talk about the other major test, the ACT-- and about
schools that do not require either. And we will discuss the TOEFL, the Test
of English as a Foreign Language.
And that's the VOA
Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.