college and poverty

A report from the Institute Of Higher Education Policy (PDF download) entitled A Report of Low-Income Adults in Education presents evidence of the ever-increasing disconnect between public school education through college and poverty.  From the conclusion:

The representation of college graduates who fail to transcend the poverty threshold is worrisome and many questions linger. It prompts one to think about students’ mismatched expectations about college and poor academic preparation. It invokes deterrents related to debt accumulation that could have been avoided by pursuing a different type of degree or a credential or, perhaps, students’ competing work and family obligations. This finding also invites one to think about the value of a college degree and the extent to which postsecondary education can lift adults out of poverty. In any case, the implications of this alarming trend are enormous, given an expected shortage in the share of college-educated populace, current demographic trends, and increasing importance of postsecondary education.