NCTN Conference: November 2011

Mankato ABE Version Edited by Karen Wolters

A Close Look at the Benefits of College-Going: A 'Why College?' Lesson Plan

Aim: Students will explore the value of college-going, personal concerns they have about attending college, and understand the benefits and costs of college-going.

Audience: Adult education students. The lesson is adaptable for use with Adult Diploma (alternative high school) students.

Materials: Photocopies of the Lesson Plan Materials (PowerPoint Slides, Homework Assignments)

YouTube Videos.

Technology: Setup for screening internet YouTube video, and PowerPoint setup.

Pre-Class Assignment: None.

Procedure:

1.Lesson Warm-up: Motivation for College Going

  1. Direct students to raise their hands if they plan to go to college in the future. Many—or all—students will probably raise their hands.
  2. Ask students, “Why do you want to go to college?”, and create a list of “Reasons for Going to College” on the whiteboard. To develop the list further, adapt the question to ask, “Why do you think other people—maybe not yourself—want to go to college? What are other reasons for college-going?”

Reasons for Going to College
  1. Watch college.gov videos from YouTube. This can be accomplished in several ways. Two suggestions are:
  • You can pick out individual clips to show that support your target audience at this site

Choose “Why go to college” from the playlist

  • For Adult Diploma Economics class I used: Why go: Giselle, Why go: Tony and Why go: Adam
  • For ABE/GED/ESL, FastTRAC I used: Why go: Felicia, Why go: Tony, Why go: Yunan, Why go: Salmaa and Why go: Christina

OR

  • You could view just one clip that is 6:53 in length. Choose the clip “college.gov Pursuing the Dream” at this site:

After choosing either option a or option b, direct students to write down the most relevant and meaningful lines from the video as they watch in preparation for a journaling prompt.

  1. Journaling (2-3 Minutes): Have students respond to the following prompt in writing: “What’s your favorite line from the video? Explain why you chose that line. What does that line mean to you?” It may be easier for students to comprehend this if the prompt is written on the board.
  1. Partnering: Direct students to discuss with a partner what they wrote and why (1 minute for each person to share their line and what they wrote).
  1. Whole-Group questions: Follow-up the partner share activity with a whole-group discussion. During the discussion, add items to the list of “Reasons for Going to College.” Use these questions to move the conversation if learners need prompting:
  2. What lines did you choose as most meaningful or interesting?
  3. Someof the students featured in the video are recent high school graduates. Can you relate to these younger students? Would adult college students say similar or different things?
  4. What are other reasons articulated in the video for wanting to go to college?
  5. Possible reasons are: Getting a good-paying job; finding a satisfying job; feeling pride in one's self; learning about interesting subjects; living away from home; engaging in extracurricular activities (like a sport); loving learning; meeting new people (significant others!); being a role model to others; proving others wrong; improving one's self-esteem; and because it's requirement from one’s parents ("I have to.").

2.Concerns about College-Going

  1. Direct students - “Raise your hand if you are the first in your family to go to college.” Note how many first generation college students are in the room. You may consider defining what “first generation college student” means or ask students if they know what it means.
  2. Note: Federal definition of First Generation is that neither parent has a bachelor’s degree.
  3. Ask students, “What are your concerns about going to college?”, and create a list of concerns on the whiteboard. To develop the list further, adapt the question to ask, “What concerns do you think other people—maybe not yourself—have about going to college? Would first-generation college students have concerns that second or third generation college students might not have?”

Concerns about College-Going
  1. Watch “ Who are we: First Generation College Students Speak Out”, which is 3:36 in length and available at this site:
  2. After watching the video, add anything to the list on the board that is missing, or that they think of after watching the video.
  3. Personal reflection (3-4 minutes): Have students create a list of things that they are personally most concerned about at this time with regards to college-going. Prioritize by listing the things they are most concerned about at the top and least concerned about at the bottom.
  4. Ask some students if they are willing to share the top things on their lists with the class. The purpose of this is to share common concerns and realities of the decision they are facing.
  5. OR have them record their top concern on paper and pass it to the front. Anonymously state concerns they turned in. (helps them identify with each other)

3.Education Pays PowerPoint Presentation (30 Minutes)

  1. Motivation: “We know that those with more education tend to make more in the job market. How much do you think the average American worker with a high school degree but no college makes a year? ($33,800) A four-year college degree? ($55,700). Wow! That’s a big difference!” Switch to the first bar graph slide in the PowerPoint presentation, and provide students with copies of the slides.
  2. Intro: “Over the next 20-25 minutes, I’ll review some slides on the quantitative benefits of continuing one’s education. What does ‘quantitative’ mean?”
  3. Quantitative
  4. Presentation: The approximately 15-slide PowerPoint presentation includes a YouTube video segment of a 20/20 report called “College is a Rip-off” by John Stossel that is 7:26 in length. This can be accessed at

Open up the group discussion with these prompting questions

  • Reactions to the video?
  • Please notice how they are defining “College”. Do you see any difference in how we have been defining college and how the video people are defining college? (Bachelor’s degree vs. other possibilities that they do not define as “college” but we have been referring to as “college” – perhaps we call it Post-Secondary Education?)
  • Why do you think the people in the video cannot get a job? (discuss employability along with education, the importance of researching labor market information, and importance of career counseling, not believing everything others tell you – for profit college admissions)
  • How can one prevent the debt that the people in the video have accumulated?

4.Questions about College Going

  1. Create another category on the board titled “Questions about College Going”.
  2. Have students raise their hands and ask questions they have about college going. This can be tailored to the specific needs of the audience and class you are teaching. For example, in FastTRAC we use this lesson plan as a pre-cursor to the Healthcare Transitions Coordinator visit, where the college person comes to talk about Admissions, Degrees offered (certificate, diploma, AAS, AA, Bachelor’s, etc), Financial Aid, the programs offered in Healthcare, and a college tour. In Adult Diploma Economics class, the teacher tailorsthis lesson “The economics of college-going” where students analyze the cost-benefit of college going.

Questions about College-Going

Homework: College Graduate Interview Assignment: Direct students to complete the “College Graduate Interview” activity. Students will need to speak with a friend, family member, or a communitymember about college and careers. If there is no one that a student knows who hascompleted college with whom they are comfortable speaking, you can direct the student to request an interview with a staff member at your adult education center or school. At the next class, you can have studentspresent information from their interviews.

PERMISSION REQUEST: Please request permission by emailing I cannot foresee a reason for not granting permission.

Why College?

College Graduate Interview

Speak to someone in your family, at your job, at our adult education center, or in your community who has earned a college degree. Ask the individual about his/her college experiences and his/her current career.

After speaking with the individual, answer the following questions either in list or paragraph format.

1) What does your interviewee do professionally?

2) Where did your interviewee go to college? What did he/she study? Did he/she like college?

3) Does he/she plan to go back to school for more education?

4) What role does your interviewee’s college education play in his/her current job? And previous jobs?

5) Would he/she have been able to get his/her current job without a college degree?

6) Is there anything new that you learned from the interview?

7) Are you glad that you got to ask these questions to the person you interviewed?

Name:______

Education Pays Quiz

– needs revision based on your audience/lesson plan

Multiple-Choice

1. How many word processor and typist jobs were projected to disappear between 2000 and 2010?

A) About 54

B) About 54,000

C) About 19.

D) About 19,000.

2. Between 2000 and 2010, which of the job areas below was projected to be the fastest growing?

A) Farming & Ranching

B) Personal Home Health Care Aides

C) Application Software Engineers

D) College Professors

3. Jobs in New York State are projected to grow fastest between 2004 and 2014 for those with the following level of education?

A) Short-Term On-the-Job Training

B) Some College

C) Bachelor’s Degree

D) Doctorate Degree

4. What percent of individuals with bachelor’s degrees or higher smoked in 2008?

A) About 5%

B) About 10%

C) About 15%

D) About 20%

Short Answer

ALL REASONABLE AND ACCURATE ANSWERS WILL BE AWARDED CREDIT.

  1. Name two things that more educated individuals are more likely to do than less well-educated individuals. (1 point each)
  1. ______
  1. ______
  1. Name two things that more education individuals are less likely to do than less educated individuals. (1 point each)
  1. ______
  1. ______
  1. What is the difference in lifetime earningsbetween the average worker with a bachelor’s degree and the average worker with only a high school diploma or GED?

______

Student Debt Math

The chart below lists the average income of American workers by the highest level of education achieved and the average amount of student loan debt, also by highest level of education achieved.

Highest Level of Education / Average Income / Average Student Loan Debt
Grade 9–11 / $24,300 / 0
HS Graduation (Including GED) / $33,800 / 0
Some College / $39,700 / $10,100
Associates Degree/Certificate / $42,000 / $10,700
Bachelor’s Degree / $55,700 / $19,200
Master’s Degree / $67,300 / $32,600
Professional Degree (MBA, JD, MD) / $100,000 / $93,200

Source: Income data from US Census; debt data from National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.

  1. How much is the difference in annual income between the average worker with some college and the average worker with an associate degree?

______

  1. How much is the difference in college loan debt between the average worker with some college and the average worker with an associate degree?

______

  1. What can you conclude/reason from these differences?

PERMISSION REQUEST: Please request permission by emailing I cannot foresee a reason for not granting permission.