Illinois public high school students face uphill battle in college
Former Illinois public high school students seem to have a hard time adjusting to the academic rigors of college, according to a new set of data analyzed by the Chicago Tribune. The findings remained true for students who were in advanced placement courses in high school as well as those who graduated with high grade point averages (GPAs).
“More and more students seem to be less prepared for college; particularly math and English skills are not where we would like them to be when they come to college,” Chancellor Rita Cheng, of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, told the Tribune.
Using data that has recently become available to the public, the newspaper found that the average freshman GPA for 90,000 former Illinois public high school students enrolled in state universities and community colleges was 2.52. The high school GPA for those students, who all graduated between 2006 and 2008, was 3.08. When looking at the students who matriculated to four-year universities in the state, the average GPA was 2.78 after their freshman year; while in high school, those students earned an average GPA of 3.37.
The large gap between GPAs earned in high school and college among Illinois public high school students is not just limited to the Prairie State, say education experts.
“It is a national issue,” said April Hansen, director of postsecondary services at ACT, the company that administers one of the two major college entrance exams. “There is a real lack of alignment (between high school and college). Kids aren’t necessarily ready for freshman-level classes.”
Only 29 of the more than 600 public high schools in the state saw their graduates earn an average GPA of 3.0 or better. Educators at both the K-12 and university level say the students’ academic struggles can be attributed to a number of factors, including high school grade inflation, increasing independence for college students, and weak curriculums in secondary schools.
Educators say grades typically rise for college students after freshman year, but early GPAs are often used in consideration for certain majors, internships and even jobs, making first-year achievement important nonetheless.
