2% SOLUTION?

High School Diploma Not Necessary

This year, around 25 percent of high school seniors will not get their high school diploma. The reasons are many: they may have failed to complete a course or assignment required in the curriculum; they may have failed a course such as health education; they may have missed a large portion of the school year due pregnancy; they may have been part of a disciplinary action; or they dropped out. According to the US Department of Education, about 40 percent of male students will not get a high school diploma.
To label these students over a lifetime as a failure is not right. Maturity can strike at any time. For some, it can be in the early teen years for others, it may not be until their twenties. Currently our educational system is too rigid to accommodate these natural occurrences. You are done at 18 years old; either you have a high school diploma or you don’t. If you fail to get a diploma, you become the problem of state government and their solution is earning a GED or living in poverty.
That’s why I think it was refreshing to hear that some community colleges are giving high school dropouts a second chance. They are accepting them into the college environment to continue their education. These students are at least 21 years old and have a renewed sense of urgency and dedication to learning. The US Department of Education estimates that about 2 percent of the college population now consists of persons without a high school diploma. (This number does not include home school enrollments.)
I’m sure purists would find it absurd that adults can go to college without a high school diploma. Certainly I am not suggesting that this become the new standard. High school graduates are having a hard time trying to get through college and they are supposedly prepared for higher education.
I believe as a country we should grant people a chance to enter higher education when they are ready. What better way to prepare for the rigors of college than menial work? Why should we condemn people to life of poverty because they weren’t ready at 18? At least with a combined high school and college diploma they can find work to keep them above the financial line of poverty.
Colleges are not going to make it easy on these “special” students. There’s too much pressure on them to not take this course of action. But, if these students apply themselves and earn higher education credits, why not usher them in to the fold of success?
No one can predict when the proverbial light bulb will go on. Maturity is an elusive concept. But when the person is ready, there should be outlets to reward the changes in attitude. There’s no statue of limitations on learning.

GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE