アメリカの経験

ユニバーサル化への道

抄録

　 Since the growth of American higher education reached a plateau after its enormous expansion in the 1960 s and early 1970 s, it has been growing much less significantly in recent years. This paper takes issue with the development of so-called ‘universal higher education’in the United States since the late 1970 s, and focuses on how universally the opportunity of higher education is given to the people. In a tentative definition, ‘universal higher education’should fulfill two conditions ; namely, 1) it should be accessible to all the applicants, and 2) at the same time it should be taken advantage of by more than half of the population in the relevant age groups.

　 It is often argued that the United States has already attained the first condition through its efforts in various educational programs and reforms, even if they were not always very effective. This article, therefore, will focus on the second condition, discussing whether the US system accommodates more than half of the cohort population. The five indicators used in this analysis are 1) enrollment rates of youths ages 18-24, 2) enrollment rates of youths ages 16-24, 3) advancement rates of high school seniors to higher education, 4) advancementrates of high school seniors to postsecondary education, and 5) degree earning rates of students within 10 years after their scheduled high school graduation date.

　 It may be concluded that American higher education reached the universal stage in the early 1990 s, if we confine our argument to the intake of students into higher education institutions. If we discuss the matter, however, in terms of the outcome of education, e.g., the completion rates of students with degrees or certificates, which is less than fifty percent, a different conclusion may be drawn. There will be no great change in the enrollment of ‘traditional’students in the near future. It is expected that higher education in the United States will continue to expand gently without changing its diversified and hierarchical structure.