Educational Achievements

Education is the key point for achievements. As a nation, many countries have more educated people throughout the world today, than have had been in past. Some countries are better off on this scale than others are. According to a new report from the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center by John M. Lee, Jr. and Anita Rawls Russian Federations’, have higher college graduation rates than the United States does (Lee and Rawls). In order to be more successful in higher education, the United States must integrate lowering the cost in education, imply equal educational opportunities for men and women, and increase face-to-face classes instead of online schooling. Education is expensive. Expense is one of the main points why some high school graduates cannot attend college worldwide. Alternatively, some of the high school graduates do attend college but cannot finish it up, because of expense or need of employment while in school. According to a documentary Working Their Way through College, this documentary discusses and touches some important points about college employment and difficulties in the United States while in school. This documentary states that during 2003 and 2004 academic year, roughly 70 to 80 percent of undergraduates worked while they are in college. The documentary statuses that on average, employed students spent almost 30 hours per week working while they are in school and one of the main reasons is to pay tuitions and to help pay their expenses (Working Their Way through College). As it expressed in the documentary that most US students work while they are in college, students are less likely to graduate within four-year period or perform poorly in their courses. To get over with this gap, the United States must adapt some alternatives from other countries to manage and decrease the student employment. It is very true that many college student’s work while attending college. In the personal interview with Shusha Ahmendova, Student of College of Western Idaho, she said, “First year she enrolled in Boise State University, because this school offered lot of high quality education and lot of carrier opportunities. While when she enrolled to school she worked full time as well, and after month or so in school, it became more difficult to manage both of them at the same time and pay for tuitions and requirements. After first semester, I had to quit school because I could not afford it and I could not just quit the work and go to school because I had bills to pay off. Year later after quitting the BSU she enrolled in community college, College of Western Idaho. It was lot cheaper in here so I did not had to work full time, so I was focusing on school more” (Ahmedova). Employed students know how hard and frustrating it is to keep up at school and work at the same time. Consequently, most college student quit school or transfer to smaller community colleges to be able to work and pay their bills. If the United States wants to increase the graduation rates, it should decrease the tuition and supplies cost in college or supply students with enough Financial Aid, so they do not have to work while in school. Providing with enough financial aid and reducing the college cost increases the graduation rate. According to a new report from the College Board Advocacy and Policy Center by John M. Lee, Jr. and Anita Rawls they stated that “Russia is the world leader when it comes to graduation it citizens from college. Fifty-four percent of the Russian Federation’s population aged 25 to 64 has an associate’s degree or higher. Furthermore, writers added to their report that most of the Russian students does not work while they are in school, so they focus on education more deeply, as a result students complete basic higher education (4years) within four years” (Lee and Rawls). According to report, one of the main points for high graduation rate success is that most of the educations in Russia offered free. Since most of the Russian citizens have more freedom and ability to attend to school and not worry about the expense so much, it pushes the country to be dominant on educational scale throughout the world. One of the main reasons for this is college expenses are a lot cheaper in the Russian Federation. While financial difficulties play a key role in the United States low college graduation rate. In the personal interview with Austin Rambow, assistant manager in Darmody Enterprises, he said, “I want to go to college, but I cannot do it because I need to work full time to be able to afford myself and my family. He says that prices for college have gotten way out of control, it is almost so only people with money can go at all or you have to get a bunch of debt” (Rambow). Since American education is expensive many high school graduates cannot attend college after graduation or later on. According to Study in Russia article, it states: “Compared to many other countries, the cost of studying in Russia is very low. Most Russian nationals are not required to pay tuition provided they get good results in their course of study. Although international students pay tuition, in comparison to many other places costs are still low. Tuition for degree study can range from $2000 to $8000 per year, with other costs (room & board, books, etc.) ranging from $1500 to $5000 per year, depending on location and spending habits. In addition, it is possible for a small quota of international students to have their studies financed through Russian federal fellowships” (Study in Russia). If citizens within the country have, more chance to attend to college it is more likely that country will develop faster and better in long run. Gender equality plays a huge role in educational success. Russian Federation holds up on equality, so every single student gets equal attention and equal rights on major selection. Even though the United States contributes lot of the freedom for it community, America still has huge equality gap to go over, to be able to be leading on every sector worldwide. If the United States wants our society to move toward the goal of gender equality in education, through which women have equal opportunities with men, it must get a wide variety of schooling. According to James A. Crone, book How Can We Solve Our Social Problems? It states that even in 21st century many American women struggle in school because of unequal education and allowance. In addition, it state of affairs that women blocked out of some sports because of their gender (Crone, 102). Conferring to the expression, even now, many American women held back because of gender inequality. According to Gender Equality in the Russian Federation documentary, it states: “Throughout the last 10 years, Russia's education system has faced several major changes due to social and economic reforms. The number of students in higher educational establishments rose by almost 40%, mainly due to the increase in female students. Between 1992- 2000, the number of male students rose by 25%, and females registered rose by 50%. Now, there are more women enrolled into higher education than men. However, it is difficult to state whether introducing the charge of fees for higher education has affected female students more than male, since there are no government statistics that include a gender breakdown in this field. Nevertheless, the allocation of the federal budget money has been criticized for becoming increasingly gender asymmetric in concern with the traditional male professions to stay free of charge” (Gender Equality in the Russia). Because male and female students have nearly equal shares in all stages of education in Russia, Russian Federations have fairly higher graduation rate than United States does. Face-to-face education is the most effective way of learning. Most colleges in the United Stated offers online courses, so many students are taking online classes for time management. Since many students work while they enrolled in the United States, students force to take an online class, so they do not have to attend a class. Online education does not contain the benefit as face-to-face interactions; many students tend to perform poorly in the online environment. According to the article Community-College Student Perform Worse Online than Face to Face by Ryan Brown, author states that college students enrolled in online courses fail or drop out more often than those whose coursework is classroom-base. It also states that students in an online course had an 82% chance of completing the course, compared with a 90% chance in face-to-face courses (Brown). According to the article in a virtual environment, students are more likely to drop out or fail the class than in traditional class. Since most of the Russian schools prefer face-to-face education, students more likely to pass their classes and graduate within selected period. Students in traditional class setting become more realistic in class discussions instead of computer-generated environments. In a virtual environment, students do not get to act to discussion right at that moment thus discussions losses their values and person changes their ideas over the time. Thus, traditional class settings are more educated and helpful for student’s development. Any action taken toward the education helps to provide better schooling. The most important thing is assuring every single student has the right to go to school whether they are from high or low-income families. Cost is the primarily step which needs to be taken, to make higher education more available to the entire nation in the United States. To be able to succeed and raise the graduation rates is important for the United States to take some serious action towards the strengthening policies and helping out to its citizens so everyone could achieve.

Works Cited: Ahmedova Shusha. Personla Interview. Nov. 27, 2011. Brown, Ryan. Community-College Studentds Perform Worse Online than Face to Face. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Washington, DC. July 18, 2011. Print. Crone, A. James. How Can We Solve Our Social Problems? (2nd ed.). Pine Forge, Washington, DC. 2011. Print. Gender Equality in the Russian Federation. OECD. FAO Gender and Land Rights Database. Oct. 26, 2011. Web. Nov. 29,2011. Lee, J. Michael and Rawls, Anita. Countries with the Most College Graduates. The College Board. 2010. Print. OECD Gender Initiative. OECD. Web. Dec. 2, 2011. http://www.oecd.org/document Rambow Austin. Personal Interview. Nov. 23, 2011. Study in Russia. Simon Haskell. CQ Researcher. Moscow, Russia. Web. Dec. 1, 2011. WordlPress.com Web. Dec. 2, 2011. http://rankingamerica.worldpress.com World Resources Institute. Ranking America. Copyright 2008-2011. OECD. Blog. Nov. 28, 2011. Working Their Way Through College. ACE Issue Brief. May, 2006. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.