On Apr 16, 2007, at 1:31 PM, Carrol Cox wrote:
The point I explained in my previous post helps explain why the present generation of college students show so little interest in activism. They are working class, as were the 'rebels' of the '60s, but the sector of the working class that attends college is less privileged today (has less leisure and less certain prospects) than the working-class students of the '60s.
Not exactly. According to Tom Mortenson's data, if you measure the social class of college students by family income quartile, that's not true. In 1970, 28% of students from the bottom quartile went on to college, vs. 79% from the top, a spread of 51 points. In 2005, it was 40% and 87%, a spread of 47 points. But there's a huge difference in completion rates. In 22% from the bottom quartile finished a bachelor's, vs 55% from the top, a spread of 33 points; in 2005 it was 30% and 90%, a spread of 60 points. So lots of poorer kids start college, but they don't finish. Doug
