College
According to the Horatio Alger Association survey, 87% of high school students believed that it is critical or very important to graduate from college. Still, in 2002 less than half of tenth graders expected they would attain a bachelor's degree, although expectations of college achievement had risen steadily since 1980. (See Figure 11.1.) The National Education Longitudinal Study found that 40% of tenth graders thought they would attain a bachelor's degree; that percentage varied little by the socioeconomic status (SES) of the student. However, the percentage of students who believed they would attain a graduate or professional degree varied significantly by socioeconomic status: 28% of students with a low SES believed they would attain a graduate or professional degree; 55% of students with a high SES believed they would attain one. The same study found that females were outpacing males in their expectations of educational achievement; in 2002 46.6% of female tenth graders
TABLE 11.6
| Public opinion of high school seniors on the performance of the police and other law enforcement agencies, 1990–2002 | |||||||||||||
| NOW WE'D LIKE YOU TO MAKE SOME RATINGS OF HOW GOOD OR BAD A JOB YOU FEEL EACH OF THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS IS DOING FOR THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE. …HOW GOOD OR BAD A JOB IS BEING DONE FOR THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE BY…THE POLICE AND OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES? | |||||||||||||
| (Percent responding "good" or "very good") | |||||||||||||
| Class of 1990 (N=2,600) | Class of 1991 (N=2,582) | Class of 1992 (N=2,684) | Class of 1993 (N=2,773) | Class of 1994 (N=2,642) | Class of 1995 (N=2,658) | Class of 1996 (N=2,455) | Class of 1997 (N=2,648) | Class of 1998 (N=2,608) | Class of 1999 (N=2,357) | Class of 2000 (N=2,216) | Class of 2001 (N=2,201) | Class of 2002 (N=2,250) | |
| Note: Response categories were "very poor," "poor," "fair," "good," "very good," and "no opinion." | |||||||||||||
| SOURCE: "Table 2.71. High School Seniors Reporting Positive Attitudes toward the Performance of the Police and Other Law Enforcement Ag encies," in Public Attitudes toward Crime and Criminal Justice-Related Topics, " Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2002, http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/1995/pdf/t271.pdf (accessed September 16, 2004) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 34.3% | 28.0% | 26.9% | 27.1% | 29.3% | 28.7% | 27.6% | 28.7% | 33.0% | 33.7% | 33.6% | 33.2% | 38.9% |
| Sex | |||||||||||||
| Male | 33.4 | 29.3 | 27.4 | 30.1 | 30.2 | 29.1 | 28.6 | 30.3 | 33.9 | 36.3 | 35.7 | 33.8 | 37.1 |
| Female | 35.0 | 27.2 | 26.8 | 24.3 | 28.4 | 28.1 | 26.5 | 27.7 | 32.1 | 31.5 | 32.7 | 33.5 | 41.4 |
| Race | |||||||||||||
| White | 35.4 | 31.5 | 30.0 | 31.1 | 32.2 | 31.5 | 30.7 | 32.1 | 35.7 | 35.2 | 38.0 | 37.2 | 43.5 |
| Black | 22.4 | 11.0 | 12.4 | 9.2 | 16.9 | 16.8 | 14.6 | 16.3 | 22.5 | 25.4 | 16.6 | 20.0 | 23.7 |
| Region | |||||||||||||
| Northeast | 28.3 | 26.3 | 26.6 | 28.0 | 29.5 | 25.5 | 30.7 | 32.7 | 33.4 | 29.9 | 36.1 | 35.8 | 42.8 |
| North Central | 35.2 | 35.7 | 27.7 | 28.5 | 29.9 | 29.9 | 24.5 | 25.4 | 32.8 | 34.3 | 33.2 | 35.7 | 39.2 |
| South | 36.0 | 22.1 | 24.5 | 25.4 | 29.3 | 27.3 | 26.5 | 28.9 | 32.4 | 34.6 | 31.7 | 32.9 | 38.5 |
| West | 36.3 | 30.0 | 30.7 | 27.8 | 28.4 | 32.9 | 31.1 | 28.6 | 34.2 | 35.0 | 35.3 | 27.7 | 35.9 |
| College plans | |||||||||||||
| Yes | 34.0 | 28.5 | 25.8 | 26.9 | 29.5 | 28.9 | 27.8 | 29.3 | 33.0 | 34.5 | 34.1 | 34.9 | 40.2 |
| No | 33.8 | 28.7 | 31.0 | 27.3 | 29.7 | 29.4 | 28.1 | 26.6 | 32.2 | 32.4 | 33.5 | 29.0 | 36.0 |
| Lifetime illicit drug use | |||||||||||||
| None | 37.7 | 31.1 | 29.5 | 29.7 | 32.9 | 31.7 | 29.4 | 33.0 | 39.3 | 38.1 | 39.5 | 37.1 | 42.4 |
| Marijuana only | 33.6 | 27.0 | 23.5 | 24.0 | 25.8 | 26.3 | 25.5 | 27.7 | 30.2 | 33.4 | 29.6 | 32.0 | 41.1 |
| Few pills | 31.5 | 29.4 | 23.3 | 25.2 | 26.7 | 24.2 | 36.3 | 26.1 | 29.1 | 34.2 | 32.3 | 34.2 | 38.5 |
| More pills | 26.6 | 17.5 | 21.3 | 22.2 | 22.9 | 25.8 | 20.0 | 21.6 | 25.9 | 24.9 | 28.8 | 26.8 | 30.8 |
FIGURE 11.1
expected to receive a graduate or professional degree, compared with only 32.8% of males.
Beyond College: Money Matters
The 2003 Teen People poll found that the majority (97%) of teens expected to make as much or more money than their parents. This expectation was more true of non-white teens (77%) than white teens (61%). Half of teens expected to earn at least $50,000 a year, and 29% believed that they would make upwards of $100,000 a year.
The survey revealed gender differences in attitudes about "bringing home the bacon." More than three-quarters (77%) of girls expected to be one of two equal breadwinners, compared with only 42% of boys. More than half (55%) of boys expected to be the "main breadwinner," compared with only 15% of girls. Only 5% of female respondents expected to be supported by their mate.
Students surveyed for the 1999 Phoenix Student Fiscal Fitness Survey, a Yankelovich Partners study conducted for the Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company (now the Phoenix Companies, Inc.), expressed an interest in overcoming their lack of confidence in money management skills. Only one in five young people felt they were "very good" at managing money, while 13% said they were not. About 29% of students said their parents provided a lot of financial guidance, and 74% agreed that schools should teach money management. The No Child Left Behind Act, passed in 2002, authorized the use of federal funds for teaching basic economic principles and personal finance skills.
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