When it comes to how America can stay competitive in the world, we are told about the importance of having more students getting college degrees. When it comes to solutions, the discussion typically focuses on how we can make college more affordable.
But cost isn’t the only barrier when it comes to a college education. A man told me a story about a girl he had dated in high school. Once she told him about the colleges she was considering, and her grandmother was eavesdropping. She said, “You’re a smart boy. What colleges are you thinking about?”
There weren’t any, because he never imagined college could be for him. No one in his family had a college education. But the question got him thinking, and to make a long story short, he went on to get a college degree. Now he has a job he never could have had otherwise.
The boy in question had immigrant parents, but he could have easily been a child in one of our rural communities or from a low-income community along the Wasatch Front. There are plenty of talented students who don’t imagine college could be for them.
So I have a question for people running for Congress or the Legislature. How are you going to get our high school students to think about continuing their education beyond high school when they are in an environment with few role models?
Steve Glaser
Holladay