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An Invisible Epidemic

AAC&U 2011 Conference

General Education and Assessment

3.0March 5, 2011

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• One hundred million Americans are in families that make less in real income than their parents did at the same age.

• If you were born to wealthy parents but did not go to college, you are more likely to be wealthy than if you did go to college but had poor parents.

• One out of every six blue-collar workers has lost his or her job in the latest recession.

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• Companies with revenues of $5 billion and over are expected to take an estimated 350,000 jobs offshore in the next two years alone.

• By 2020, interest on the total U.S. debt will reach $900 billion per year.

• The future is that of the division between the geriatric set and the pediatric hopefuls.

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Distribution of Total U.S. Population by Race/Ethnicity, 2007

66%

12%

15%

5% 1% 1%

White

Black

Hispanic

Asian-PI

Native American

Multiracial

Source: NCES 2010

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Distribution of U.S. Population by Race/Ethnicity, 2007 (Under Age 18)

57%

14%

21%

4% 1% 3%

Source: NCES 2010

White

Black

Hispanic

Asian-PI

Native American

Multiracial

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“Amongst the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general equality of condition among the people…. Democratic laws generally tend to promote the welfare of the greatest possible number; for they emanate from the majority of the citizens, who are subject to error, but who cannot have an interest opposed to their own advantage.”

- Alexis de Tocqueville, 1835

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• From 1980 to around 1987, wage inequality increased in a rapid and steady fashion.

• In September 1979, the median income (in constant, inflation-adjusted dollars) was $25,896.

• In September 1995, the median income was $24,700—a five percent cut over the intervening decade and a half.

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• The nation’s top 5 percent saw their pay rise 29 percent over the same period, up to $177,518.

• Between 1977 and 1989, the top 1 percent of America’s richest saw their income rise from $323,942 to $576,553.

• The average middle-class income between 2000 and 2007 fell $1,175, while expenses rose $4,655.

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• In 2009, 9.1 percent of the people who filed for bankruptcy earned $60,000 a year or more.

• Among those who declared bankruptcy in 2009, 57.7 percent had attended college.

• In 2007, 14.7 percent of American households had debt totaling more than 40 percent of their annual income.

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“There are times—they mark the danger point for a political system—when politicians can no longer communicate, when they stop understanding the language of the people they are supposed to be representing.”

- Ian Kersaw

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Anger Building Across America

• Oklahoma Tea Party

• Hutaree group

• So-called Patriot groups

• Like-minded militia groups

• Nativist extremist groups

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• In the mid-1960s, only 29 percent of voters thought “big interests” ran the nation.

• By the mid-1990s, that number climbed to 76 percent.

• In 2008, 80 percent of Americans surveyed believed government was controlled by “a few big interests looking out for themselves.”

For the Benefit of All?

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

• Ranked U.S. 25th in math and 21st in science among 30 developed countries.

• Ranked top 10 percent of American students 24th in the world in math literacy.

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Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2006

Total includes American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders.

Percentage of Male Inmates in State or Federal Prisons and Local Jails, by Race, Hispanic origin, and Age: June 30, 2006

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High-School Completion Rates by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, 2005 (18-to-24-Year-Olds)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Perc

en

tag

e

White Black Hispanic Asian Amer. Nat. Am.

Source: Ryu, ACE, 2008

Men (18-24) Women (18-24)

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Proportion of Men/Women with AA Degree or Higher, 2006 (25-to-29-Year-Olds)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Perc

en

tag

e

White Black Hispanic AA-PI Nat. Am.

Source: Ryu, ACE, 2008

Men (25-29) Women (25-29)

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Public School Suspensions, K-12, by Race/ Ethnicity and Gender, 2004

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Perc

en

tag

e

White Black Hispanic AA-PI NA-AN

Source: Devoe, NCES, 2008

Men Women

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Status Dropout Rates Among Noninstitutionalized 16-to-24-Year-Olds by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, 2006

0

5

10

15

20

25

Perc

en

tag

e

White Black Hispanic AA-PI NA-AN

Source: Devoe, NCES, 2008

Male Female

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Ronald A. WilliamsVice PresidentThe College Board1233 20th St., NW, Suite 600Washington, DC  20036-2375202-741-4702 phone202-741-4743 faxrwilliams@collegeboard.orgrwilliams@collegeboard.org