Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Attending My Stepdaughter's College Graduation Was Very Special

I recently had the honor of attending my stepdaughter's graduation from Indiana University. Rachel looked lovely and her smile was beaming. For the past four years, she has diligently pursued her bachelor's degree while working a part-time job and maintaining her own home. In my opinion, Rachel is the epitome of what today's young adult should be doing -- setting goals and achieving them through hard work, perseverance and desire.

At Rachel's graduation ceremony, the Chancellor commended students for their personal commitment to excellence and challenged them to become leaders in their professions and communities, saying: "Hard work, dedication, and commitment have played a role in your success. Now with that success comes responsibility. We will look to you for leadership. Society will look to you to make a difference in all the challenges we’re going to face in this country and in the world."

Those words had me wondering just how many students graduate from college in the United States each year to embark on a life of such responsibility. The Census Bureau has said that 34 percent of Americans have completed a bachelor's degree or higher. The college graduation rate is at around 60% (in other words, 60% of those who start college actually attain their degree -- but only 36% of those students finish within 4 years). There are approximately 19 million college students in the United States (in undergraduate programs) and about 4 million enrolled in graduate or professional programs. So, there are around 23 million students pursuing higher education in the U.S. annually -- which is 7 percent of the U.S. population.

Data in the last twenty years shows the general trend of girls outperforming boys in academic achievement in terms of class grades across all subjects and college graduation rates, but boys scoring higher on standardized tests and being better represented in the higher-paying and more prestigious STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Annually, more American women are earning bachelor's degrees than men, and I'm so proud of my stepdaughter for not only pursuing her degree, but attaining it! Congratulations Rachel!

From Him, Through Him, For Him (Romans 11:36),

Paul J. Staso
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