College study should concern Oklahoma policymakers

FOR those starting at the lower rungs of the economic ladder, education is crucial to increasing one's earnings. So it should concern policymakers that a report shows Oklahoma ranks at the bottom of the 50 states in the share of low-income students who go to college.

That study, by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, finds only a 21 percent college-participation rate for Oklahomans from low-income families. That was tied for the second-lowest in the nation, beating out only Alaska, whose rate was 10 percent. The national estimated college participation rate for low-income students was 34.2 percent in 2016.

Why is Oklahoma so much lower than the national average? Several explanations come to mind, but few explain the large gap between Oklahoma and most states.

One positive explanation offered by Pell is that in energy-producing states like Oklahoma, “higher paying jobs might be available without a college degree.” No doubt, that does account for some share of students who forgo college, but it's hard to believe it accounts for a majority of the gap.

Some will blame Oklahoma's low ranking on state per-pupil spending in K-12 schools. But Idaho, Arizona and Utah all spend even less per pupil than Oklahoma, and the college participation rate was 26 percent in Idaho and 27 percent in both Utah and Arizona. When other states spend less per pupil on K-12 education and still see a higher share of poor youth go to college, that suggests K-12 spending isn't the primary cause of low college attendance.

While the report found the states with the highest college participation rates among poor students “tended to be located in the Northeast,” Oklahoma still stood apart from most states in the immediate region.

In neighboring Arkansas, 27 percent of poor students pursue college. That state is demographically similar to Oklahoma. The college-going rate of the poor was much higher in Kansas (32 percent) and Missouri (31 percent), while Texas was also higher at 26 percent.

What of college affordability? The Pell report finds just seven states have lower average four-year public college costs (including tuition, fees, and room and board) and Oklahoma ranked eighth-lowest in the share of college graduates with debt. But the report also found the average cost of attending a two-year public institution in Oklahoma is more expensive than in 19 other states.

Another explanation for Oklahoma's low ranking is one that may be the most difficult to address: low expectations. For years, Oklahoma's ranking on most measures of K-12 student learning have been among the lowest in the country, yet the response from many officials has been that other than funding, everything is just fine.

Resistance to raising standards and expectations, regardless of state funding or a child's socio-economic status, has contributed greatly to Oklahoma's low national rankings on education outcomes — and undoubtedly played a role in Oklahoma having fewer poor students who pursue college.

We've long stressed college isn't for everyone, and that the state also needs more people with two-year degrees and vocational certificate programs. But this doesn't mean Oklahoma officials shouldn't try to do better, or that complacency is an acceptable response to the Pell report.