Today’s All Things Considered featured a story on a college degree program in Seattle for students with intellectual disabilities. The program’s founder rightly points out that special education has focused exclusively on K-12 with little attention paid to post-secondary education. But I think that reflects broader attitudes on education in this country. Since the 19th century, K-12 education had been a quasi-fundamental right for American children. The same can’t be said for higher education. A college degree is not seen as an entitlement, even though volumes of research support the notion that college graduates have higher-paying jobs. Perhaps programs like the one discussed on ATC will be part of a growing trend to provide more universal access to higher education at a time when global competition demands a more skilled workforce.
