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Young adults believe high schools are not providing the proper guidance they need for college nor are secondary schools preparing them for the working world, though those who do make it to college are satisfied with the education they’re getting, according to an Associated Press report on a poll it conducted with Viacom, parent company of MTV.

Initial findings of the survey reported yesterday by the AP reveal that some high school students believe they were not given much help in deciding what to study in college, or in finding the best college or vocational school for their needs. Counselors were specifically called out by students -- with less than one-fourth saying their counselors were a lot of help.

High schools also got low marks for coaching students on ways to identify sources of funding for more education.

The majority of young adults who did enroll in college, however, report that they are “very” or “extremely” satisfied with the education they are getting, according to the poll of 1,100 18- to 24-year-olds.

Additionally, it was discovered that despite chronic worries over family finances, 90 percent of young adults are confident they will find a career that will bring them happiness and 87 percent are generally happy with their lives.  

The news comes at a time when higher education is being targeted by state governments for drastic budget cuts as federal stimulus funding begins to dry up and as the recession prompts a nationwide conversation on the cost of traditional four-year degrees and their general efficacy in providing graduates with a ticket to the American dream.

Rising costs

The cost of higher education is also coming under more scrutiny as the total debt for student loans begins to eclipse even that of the country’s total credit card debt. Student loan debt — totaling more than $800 billion — outpaced credit card debt for the first time last year and is likely to top a trillion dollars this year, the New York Times reports.

Meanwhile, Census Bureau statistics, also cited by the AP, show that despite the desire for higher education expressed by many young adults, few make it. Only about a third of today’s 25- to 34-year-olds hold a bachelor's or higher degree, according to the Census Bureau, with less than 10 percent getting an associate's degree.

The findings – that high schools are failing to provide direction toward the path to college though most students want to attend and that youth are optimistic regarding post-secondary education, despite the recession – mirror what some educational experts are seeing in their own experience.

Nicole Hurd, executive director of the National College Advising Corps, which places recent college graduates in low-income schools to work as full-time college guidance counselors, and who is affiliated with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is one of them.

“This is what we’re seeing in the field. Our students in high school, despite difficult economic situations, are incredibly interested and full of hope about their futures and about furthering their education. As eighth-graders, 80 percent say they want to go to college, but the reality is once they get in their 20s, less than 20 percent have gotten across the finish line. So, with an 80 percent aspiration rate and minus 60 percent follow through, we’ve got a problem, but not just for educators and counselors -- as a community,” said Hurd. “It’s jarring to see the stats come alive. Whether in rural North Carolina or New York City, if you ask who wants to go to college, almost all the hands go up, but then you look at the matriculation data and it doesn’t happen. It’s heartbreaking.”

She defends counselors, though, saying that often they suffer from heavy workloads and unjust student-to-counselor ratios.

“Often a student counselor ratio is 1 to 457, this is what we see and it’s also documented in research. There’s no way they can give each student the time they need, but that’s not the only barrier. Something like a FASA form or a fee waiver, these things should be a silly hiccup, but too often they become Grand Canyons for students trying to figure things out, as a community, we need to help them get over these obstacles,” said Hurd.

Finding solutions

It is this approach to the issue that led Hurd, through her work at Chapel Hill, to create the NCAC. Through a nationwide consortium of colleges and universities, the corps aims to increase the number of low-income, first-generation students entering and completing higher education. By placing recent graduates of partner institutions as full-time college advisers in low-income high schools and community colleges, the program works to provide the advising and encouragement that students need to navigate college admissions.

“By having another full-time advisor, you cut the ratio in half. But you really need coaches, members of the community, basically everyone who is talking with students, to be part of the leadership in this. That’s how we create a ‘going to college culture’ in our schools, that’s how we’ve seen the needle move,” said Hurd.

Another education expert, Richard Vedder, says the initial findings echo what he sees on campus and also believes counselors should not shoulder all the blame for the aspiration gap. A professor of economics at Ohio University who studies higher education financing, labor economics, immigration, government fiscal policy and income inequality, Vedder is also director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP), an independent, non-profit research center.

“These findings mirror what I see in the trenches in general, optimism goes along with youth, but more college students are extremely worried about finances, with the burden of college growing over time.  It’s literally impossible for income to rise as fast as tuition, so as it gets harder for families to afford, the government has offered loans, but in the final analysis, people are still paying a lot, and it’s clobbering the middle class especially.”

He said in general tuition costs increased by 7 percent a year since the 80s, and after adjusting for 3 percent inflation, you wind up with a 4 percent jump, “so every 18 years or so they nearly double.”

On the preparation of high school students for college, Vedder said a lack of communication between higher education and grade schools exacerbates the problem.

“College people and high school people typically don’t talk to each other, there are different bureaucracies, regents versus school committees and so on, different sets of standards set up by different people, so there’s very little coordination, and it’s a shame. I’m not exonerating college professors or high schools; I think the blame should be shared across the board.”

For related Schools.com coverage read:

• Young people remain optimistic about higher education, AP/Viacom survey says
• 5 ways to use social media to get into college
• 7 student financial aid booby traps to avoid