(1205)APPLES AND ORANGES: USING JAPAN TO INFLUENCEAMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY AND INCREASEGRADUATION RATES

摘要

With Obama’s ambitious plan to increase by 50% the number of Americans with tertiary degrees, it isunclear how the U.S. can increase the number of graduates while at the same time increasing thesystem’s overall quality and rigor. In addition to the dubious belief that everyone is intellectuallycapable of entering and completing college, the 2020 Initiative seems to assume that an Americaneducation is of a lower quality than that of nations with more tertiary degree holders by the mere factthat America confers fewer degrees. In order to fully investigate the claim that America is losing itscompetitive edge to these nations, it is instructive to take a closer look at the education landscape ofthose countries that place higher on the list. Such an investigation could help to determine if Americareally has much to lose by placing behind them. This paper will look at one of the Asian nationsplacing ahead of America, Japan, as the authors are intimately familiar with that system havingworked within it for several decades combined.