Recent Changes

“The key features of US educational institutions are public funding, public provisions, separation of church and state, a decentralized system of fiscally independent districts, open access with a forgiving system, and gender neutrality” (Goldin & Katz, 2008). These virtues promised equal opportunity and a common education for all US children. They suggest that a student could often advance to higher grades and institutions even if he or she failed to perform adequately in a lower grade. There were an equal amount of boys and girls in school; however African American children were educated in segregated schools throughout the South.
At the start of the US nation, school funding came from state funds, rate bills (tuition), and local taxes. Later, rate bills were eliminated and only the wealthy sent their children to academies, private schools, or boarding schools. In the mid-nineteenth century, large cities established free public high schools but most rural communities, particularly the South, could not support a public high school because they were agricultural regions and sparsely settled. But by 1900, real estate taxation was the most effective means of funding education and the federal government had minimal involvement in primary and secondary education. In 1920, the demand for more educated workers increased which lead to more high schools being built. These taught both academic and vocational subjects which made students more marketable in the job force. These courses were offered to make secondary education more appealing to students who were dropping out of school at age 14. Compulsory and continuation school laws were brought into effect to compel students to stay in school instead of joining the work force early. This prepared the nation for the expansion and growth of public high schools.
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As mentioned, the purpose for secondary schooling in the early 1900s was a way to train young men and women for an occupations and life, not necessarily college. Smaller towns had higher school enrollment rates than bigger cities because of the immediate job opportunities presented by the urban industries. As the high school movement proceeded, graduation rates for girls exceeded the graduation rates for boys across the country. Until college became a mass form of education, when the graduation rates from secondary school increased, the amount of students continuing to college decreased. High school enrollment rates soared in the mid-1900s, but “the supply of quality teachers was extremely elastic and the large increase in demand for teachers did not lead to a decrease in the quality of teaching personnel at the secondary school level” (Goldin & Katz, 2008).
For most men and women born in the early Twentieth Century, college was not something that was tended as a necessary means of survival. However, after the end of World War II and the passing of the GI Bill by FDR, the attendance and graduation from college rates began to skyrocket. Once the Korean and subsequent Vietnam War came about, male attendance and graduation rates began to drop again and America saw a transition of more females attending and graduating college. "Rather than lagging behind men in college-going and graduation, women became the majority of college students in 1980. The trend has continued so that at the beginning of the twenty-first century women were 56 percent of all undergraduates" (Goldin & Katz, 2008). In early parts of the Twentieth Century, private universities and colleges ruled the higher education system, but as time went on, public universities were able to increase their vastness in size to become the majority for higher educated Americans. State financial support increased for the public sector, where most of these states were the Midwest and farther westward, which leads to the sheer disparity in continued dominance by private institutions in the East, while public institutions dominate most of the rest of the country.
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Early in the Twentieth Century, around 1915, the wage premium for both college and a high school education had an extremely high economic rate of return. However, the wage structure began to collapse around 1920 until about 1950, where the more college educated Americans saw their earnings reduce at about the same rate as less educated Americans. Even with the decline in wages, the rate of return on education was still high enough that even though the wage structure fell apart, the return of education was still a good investment. "Yet America remained the 'best poor man's country' because it had a considerably higher average income than did other nations, as well as an open educational system and more equality of opportunity than existed in Europe" (Goldin & Katz, 2008). As each generation continued to become more educated than the previous one, America saw its wage structure climb substantially as the economy and labor production grew until 1973. This wage structure primarily soared for college graduates, and although high school graduates wages increase, it was not nearly at the level of college graduates, as their education was no longer being highly valued. After a brief lull in the 1980s, college graduate wage premiums rose back to levels of return that they enjoyed in 1915. Although the wage premium for high school graduates rose as well, it only recovered to half the level is was at in 1915, creating an enormous inequality gap between the wage premiums for college and high school graduates.
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Even with this wage premium increase and historic prominence in education, the current state of American education is somewhat on a downslide. In 1970, high school graduation rates in the U.S. were at their peak, but after this there was a steady decline in the graduation rates of high school students in America. In fact, the U.S. high school graduation rate plummeted to its lowest standing in the past 50 years in 1995. "While high school graduation rates had seriously stagnated in America they took off in Europe and in other parts of the world" (Goldin & Katz, 2008). As America struggled, the rest of the world began to climb and succeed, evident by the fact that currently 18 of the 26 current Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries have higher high school graduation rates than the U.S. The struggle has not stopped there; even though the U.S. has had gains in the number of students attending college, college completion rates have not kept pace and the growth of students attending college has slowed considerably. "As the quantity of education became more equal across nations, the quality of U.S. K-12 education became subject to greater scrutiny" (Goldin & Katz, 2008). Students in the U.S. were being seen as less prepared for a college education, as they continually scored lower on international assessments against other OECD countries.
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Statistics
Educational attainment during the twentieth century expanded by 5.27 years for those born in the United State from 1895 to 1975.

As mentioned, the purpose for secondary schooling in the early 1900s was a way to train young men and women for an occupations and life, not necessarily college. Smaller towns had higher school enrollment rates than bigger cities because of the immediate job opportunities presented by the urban industries. As the high school movement proceeded, graduation rates for girls exceeded the graduation rates for boys across the country. Until college became a mass form of education, when the graduation rates from secondary school increased, the amount of students continuing to college decreased. High school enrollment rates soared in the mid-1900s, but “the supply of quality teachers was extremely elastic and the large increase in demand for teachers did not lead to a decrease in the quality of teaching personnel at the secondary school level” (Goldin & Katz, 2008).
For most men and women born in the early Twentieth Century, college was not something that was tended as a necessary means of survival. However, after the end of World War II and the passing of the GI Bill by FDR, the attendance and graduation from college rates began to skyrocket. Once the Korean and subsequent Vietnam War came about, male attendance and graduation rates began to drop again and America saw a transition of more females attending and graduating college. "Rather than lagging behind men in college-going and graduation, women became the majority of college students in 1980. The trend has continued so that at the beginning of the twenty-first century women were 56 percent of all undergraduates" (Goldin & Katz, 2008). In early parts of the Twentieth Century, private universities and colleges ruled the higher education system, but as time went on, public universities were able to increase their vastness in size to become the majority for higher educated Americans. State financial support increased for the public sector, where most of these states were the Midwest and farther westward, which leads to the sheer disparity in continued dominance by private institutions in the East, while public institutions dominate most of the rest of the country.
universities; increasing the
{old_school4.jpg}
the need for "But the modernm
odern university is U.S. Even thoughthou
gh the start
The Race
Early in the Twentieth Century, around 1915, the wage premium for both college and a high school education had an extremely high economic rate of return. However, the wage structure began to collapse around 1920 until about 1950, where the more college educated Americans saw their earnings reduce at about the same rate as less educated Americans. Even with the decline in wages, the rate of return on education was still high enough that even though the wage structure fell apart, the return of education was still a good investment. "Yet America remained the 'best poor man's country' because it had a considerably higher average income than did other nations, as well as an open educational system and more equality of opportunity than existed in Europe" (Goldin & Katz, 2008). As each generation continued to become more educated than the previous one, America saw its wage structure climb substantially as the economy and labor production grew until 1973. This wage structure primarily soared for college graduates, and although high school graduates wages increase, it was not nearly at the level of college graduates, as their education was no longer being highly valued. After a brief lull in the 1980s, college graduate wage premiums rose back to levels of return that they enjoyed in 1915. Although the wage premium for high school graduates rose as well, it only recovered to half the level is was at in 1915, creating an enormous inequality gap between the wage premiums for college and high school graduates.

Economic Growth and Distribution
The Twentieth Century could be considered the “Human Capital Century” or even the “American Century.” Americans were recognizing the value in human capital, which is considered a “broad class of inputs such as education, on-the-job training, and health” (Goldin & Katz, 2008). The American Century represents an era where education was recognized as a powerful contributor to the work force, making the labor force more efficient, innovative, and able to embrace the changes brought by technology. Particularly during the first three-quarters of the century, “educational attainment advanced by 6.2 years or 0.82 years per decade” (Goldin & Katz, 2008). Although the 15-year period from 1975 to 1990 showed a slower increase in educational attainment, it was evident that America was placing value in education. In particular, high school education was contributing to some of the largest gains in educational attainment in U.S. history.
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America’s choice for education was unique at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. “According to a careful analysis of data from 18 European nations in the 1950s, none enrolled more than 30 percent of older teen youth in full-time academic secondary schools and most were below the 20 percent mark” (Goldin & Katz, 2008). Meanwhile, even at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, education was publicly provided and funded free, aside from the highest schooling levels. Even rural areas had the option of sending their child to a free public secondary school, with the exception of some African Americans being excluded from various levels of schooling (particularly in the South). While the European countries were not exceeding 40 percent enrollment, America had more than 70 percent of its teen youth in secondary schools during 1950. America’s human capital through education was allowing for innovation and technological advancement as highly educated workers entered the workforce.
is greatly breaking away from technological changes.
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While technology was a changing element in the Human Capital Century, it is argued that technology changes are not, it itself, the reason inequality increased during the second half of the Twentieth Century. “Great technological advances in recent decades have increased the relative demand for skill; but, surprising as it may seem, the early part of the Twentieth Century also experienced great advances that increased the relative demand for skill, possibly to an equal degree” (Goldin & Katz, 2008). In particular, for the early Twentieth Century there was a focus on increased demand for high school educated workers, whereas for the more recent period, there is a different demand for college-educated workers. The U.S. manufacturing sector in the early Twentieth Century required more advanced and capital-intensive technologies. This was associated with increased relative demand for occupations with higher educational requirements, whereas now computers have changed the skill-biased technological demand. Regardless, the complexity of inequality does not solely rest upon the demand side. The supply side, determined by American educational attainment, plays a large role on the current economic growth.
Education for the Masses in Three Transformations