Goldrick-Rab Sara, Sorensen Kia
University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Future Child. 2010 Fall;20(2):179-203. doi: 10.1353/foc.2010.0008.
Noting that access to higher education has expanded dramatically in the past several decades, Sara Goldrick-Rab and Kia Sorensen focus on how unmarried parents fare once they enter college. Contrary to the expectation that access to college consistently promotes family stability and economic security, the authors argue that deficiencies in current policy lead college attendance to have adverse consequences for some families headed by unmarried parents. Although rates of college attendance have increased substantially among unmarried parents, their college completion rates are low. One explanation is inadequate academic preparation. Another is financial constraints, which can force unmarried students to interrupt their studies or increase their work hours, both of which compromise the quality of their educational experiences and the outcomes for their children. The authors point out that although many public programs offer support to unmarried parents attending college, the support is neither well coordinated nor easily accessed. Over the past three decades, loans have increasingly replaced grants as the most common form of federal and state financial aid. Confusion about what is available leads many low-income students to the two most "straightforward" sources of income--loans and work, both of which involve significant costs and can operate at cross-purposes with public forms of support. Too much work can lead to reductions in public benefits, and earnings do not always replace the lost income. A growing body of experimental evidence shows that providing social, financial, and academic supports to vulnerable community college students can improve achievement and attainment. Contextualized learning programs, for example, have enabled participants not only to move on from basic skills to credit-bearing coursework, but also to complete credits, earn certificates, and make gains on basic skills tests. Another successful initiative provided low-performing students with special counseling services and a small stipend of $150 per semester when they used those services. And researchers are conducting experimental performance-based financial aid programs at community colleges to test their effectiveness. Goldrick-Rab and Sorensen conclude that more effective support could enable unmarried students to complete college degree and certificate programs.
萨拉·戈德里克 - 拉布和基娅·索伦森注意到在过去几十年里接受高等教育的机会大幅增加，他们关注未婚父母进入大学后的情况。与大学教育能持续促进家庭稳定和经济安全的预期相反，作者认为当前政策的缺陷导致上大学对一些未婚父母家庭产生了不利影响。尽管未婚父母的大学入学率大幅上升，但他们的大学毕业率却很低。一种解释是学术准备不足。另一种是经济限制，这可能迫使未婚学生中断学业或增加工作时间，这两者都会影响他们的教育质量以及孩子的成长结果。作者指出，尽管许多公共项目为上大学的未婚父母提供支持，但这种支持既缺乏良好协调，也不易获得。在过去三十年里，贷款越来越多地取代助学金，成为联邦和州财政援助的最常见形式。对可获得的资助的困惑导致许多低收入学生选择两种最“直接”的收入来源——贷款和工作，但这两者都涉及巨大成本，并且可能与公共支持形式相互矛盾。工作过多可能导致公共福利减少，而且收入并不总能弥补损失的收入。越来越多的实验证据表明，为弱势社区学院学生提供社会、经济和学术支持可以提高成绩和学业成就。例如，情境化学习项目不仅使参与者能够从基础技能学习转向修读有学分的课程，还能完成学分、获得证书，并在基础技能测试中取得进步。另一项成功的举措为成绩不佳的学生提供特殊辅导服务，并在他们使用这些服务时每学期提供150美元的小额津贴。研究人员正在社区学院开展基于绩效的实验性财政援助项目以测试其有效性。戈德里克 - 拉布和索伦森得出结论，更有效的支持可以使未婚学生完成大学学位和证书项目。
