The United States used to be the powerhouse of the world. However, for the first time, American students are being forced to compete with the up-and-coming educated classes of other countries.
There is a flaw in the current educational system in the United States. As almost all Americans know, attending a university in the U.S. – even a public one – can cost thousands of dollars. In fact, the price is increasing annually.
For the impoverished youth, the reality of going to a university is nothing but a fantasy. What, then, is the motivation to stay in high school? We see our young minds dropping out, getting affiliated with gangs, going to prison, and having no real chance of bettering their lives. This is a perpetuating cycle that is almost impossible to escape.
The truth is, we need to compete; young minds need to be educated, and when they aren't, young Americans end up in prison. They do not contribute to society, help advance the United States, and end up being a burden on taxpayers who already deal with crowded prison systems.
Up to this point, there has been no successful answer for young Americans trapped in a vicious cycle of lack of education and poverty. I believe that I have found a solution to this problem: The American Dream University.
The online university system that already exists in this country with schools like The University of Phoenix, have already created the basis of what we need. The reality is that many Americans cannot afford to even receive this education. Keep in mind there are people who need to work two or three jobs just to make enough money to survive. The American Dream University will help solve this problem.
American Dream University will be a free online university system for any American citizen who graduates high school. Now, there are already free online universities such as The University of People, but they have an inherent flaw. Universities such as these rely on educated volunteers to grade work. I have come to believe that, although philanthropy is effective, incentive works better. So I propose the following:
Graduate school in the United States can be incredibly expensive. Most students are required to take out loans or get financial aid. These can be very hard to pay off, especially in times where job loss is so high in the United States.
The American Dream University will create a system in which graduate students receive large cuts from graduate school tuition/expenses in return for grading the work of newly enrolled undergraduates at American Dream University. This will create a system where the only federal or private money will be invested in students working toward graduate degrees.
So what are we getting? We now have a system where you can attend college for free, and then attend graduate school at a lesser cost by staying in the system and grading the work of. Yes, grading work will be difficult for people going through the graduate process, but students currently do that already, and the idea of the American Dream is that with hard work one can truly better his circumstances.
As well, young impoverished Americans tend to get criminal records. I believe this is more due to circumstance than lack of character. So I propose this: if a young student with misdemeanors or non-violent crimes gets through The American Dream University, they will have those charges removed from their records.
So what do you get? A new body of young educated students with the real ability to better their circumstances, and a whole new body of workers that would normally just have been a burden on taxpayers.
Those are some extraordinary implications. As well, the only funds that would be required would be for the initial curriculum, and for helping graduate students who will easily be able to contribute and re-stimulate the economy upon graduation. It will become a self-sustaining system of the educated helping to lift the non-educated.
With this system, I will have the ability to walk into a Detroit classroom and tell students for the first time in their lives that, if they graduate high school, I will give them a legitimate shot at bettering their circumstances. This is something that nobody has been able to say on as grand of a scale as I am, and will be the first real motivation to keep kids off the streets and out of gangs.
Students will need to follow certain requirements such as holding a job while in the undergrad program, as well as being required to talk to local high school students about the program; then, they will not only receive a college degree for free, but will also make money. This job will require monthly drug testing, and any arrests will result in immediate expulsion.
It will take hard work, but hope and motivation, when the rewards actually seem reachable, can be very powerful. This will be the first truly reachable goal for thousands. As well, students who successfully complete the programs will now be giving their children a much better starting place in middle class America. This is not meant to discredit the American university system, which is the best in the world. It is meant to give American citizens who cannot afford to enter this system a real chance.
Think of the implications of such a change: a whole new body of young educated workers who can contribute to rebuilding the United States. This is a very big undertaking, but I believe we could have a whole new body of educated young people within 15 years.
Some of the most important changes in American history were very radical at the time, and I believe this could be a real step in helping to fix the self-perpetuating system of poverty in the United States. The technology already exists, but with the right funding, this could be implemented across the country. I am talking about the first real shot at returning the idea of "The American Dream" to thousands of impoverished Americans. Anybody inspired or interested in contributing to this idea, please contact me directly.
E-mail: jesseors@buffalo.edu
