By the numbers

59% Proportion of 10^th-graders in 1990 who said they expected to graduate from a four-year college.

80% Proportion of 10^th-graders in 2002 who said they expected to graduate from a four-year college, attributed to increased encouragement from teachers.

That increase in the number of kids who think that they will graduate from college is pretty interesting.  Last year I volunteered at a Saint Paul’s Arlington High School one day to discuss technology careers with a few classes of Juniors.  I would guess that at least 25%, and more like 35% could barely act like they cared about their future.  The ones that weren’t asleep were more interested in reading other material than finding out what a real job was like.  Good luck graduating from an institution with that level of enthusiasm.