ANALYZING THE LEVEL OF COLLEGE PREPAREDNESS AMONG GRADE 12 STUDENTS IN LEON

GARCIA SR. NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

RESEARCH BACKGROUND

College preparedness has become a pressing issue in recent years, as more and more students
are pursuing higher education. However, many students are not adequately prepared for the academic
and social challenges of college life. This lack of preparedness can lead to a range of negative
outcomes, including lower grades, higher dropout rates, and decreased student satisfaction.

The landscape of American higher education has been considerably transformed by societal
changes occurring within the U.S. (Benjamin, 2003). For example, the lion’s share of American students
lack college preparedness after graduating from high school; subsequently, many feel pessimistic about
their college readiness (Royster, Gross, & Hochbein, 2015; Harris Poll, 2015). In fact, in the 2014
academic year, only 68 percent of high school graduates immediately transitioned into college (“Fast
Facts,” NCES, 2014). This statistic informs that 32 percent of high school graduates are at an eventual
disadvantage when navigating the job market alongside younger, more educated, competitors (Bozick &
DeLuca, 2005).

Since the 1970s, there has been a steady rise in the need for skilled workers thereby
eliciting a higher premium on the college educated (Elitas, Ercan, & Tumen, 2015). In fact, in
2009, former President Barack Obama announced an initiative to make the United States number
one in the world for college completion rates by the year 2020; however, by 2018, the U.S. will
be short by approximately 300 million college degree earners (Seifert, Henry, & Peregrina-Kretz,
2014; Humphreys, 2012). As stated by Hout (2012), having an “education makes life better” both
economically and socially because college educated individuals “acquire new skills and
perspectives that make them better workers, life partners, and citizens” (p. 394 -396). Therefore,
it is essential to explore the literature to understand college preparedness and the factors
associated with persistence beyond the first year of college.

According to Conley (2007), college preparedness includes(1) knowledge of content,(2)

application of content, and (3) cognitive strategies. These elements are interdependent and it is for
students to hurdle these challenges of college life. Notably, college preparedness in the Philippines is a
relatively recent concept brought on by the introduction of the K-12 program.Since higher education is
one of the program's curricular exits, instructors, teachers, policymakers, and other stakeholders are
involved in appraising SHS graduates’ preparation in seeking tertiary education. In the same vein, the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) developed the College Readiness Standards (CRS) in 2011,
specifying the skills required of graduates from the K-12 program in the General Education Courses
(GEC) in order to ensure continuity of the skills acquired from the K-12 curriculum. CRS development
aims to reduce remediation among higher education institutions (HEIs) and assess compliance with
international quality standards (Commission on Higher Education, 2011). The CRS has seven fields of
study:English, Literature, Filipino, Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Humanities. It consists of
content and performance standards. Content standards refer to what students need to know, while
performance standards pertain to what they can demonstrate with what they know. To date, there is no
specific study on the college preparedness of IPs in the Philippines.

According to Villano (2008) the independent variables were social position and executive
leadership of the Davao Doctors College. The dependent variable was the preparedness of the
Radiologic Technology Program for PACUCOA accreditation in the following nine areas, namely:
Purposes and Objectives, Faculty, Instruction, Library, Laboratories, Physical Plant and Facilities,
Student Personnel Services, Social Orientation and Community Involvement, and Organization and
Administration. The study employed the descriptive correlational research design.There was no
significant difference in the ratings of the students and faculty in the following areas: Purposes and
Objectives, Instruction, Library, Laboratories, Physical Plant and Facilities, Student Personnel Services,
and Social Orientation and Community Involvement.

GLOBAL

Florence, K.M. (2017). Understanding College Preparedness of First-Semester College

Students.In ProQuest LLC eBooks.Retrieved from
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3975&context=thesesdissertations.
Retrieved on (May 8, 2017).

NATIONAL

Corey, B. (2021). College Readiness:Rural High School Graduates. Retrieved from

https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11379&context=dissertations. Retrieved
on (October 16, 2023).

LOCAL

Villano, M.L.F. (2008). The Preparedness of the Radiologic Technology Program of Davao
Doctors College for PACUCOA Accreditation:Basis for an Accreditation Development Plan. Retrieved
from https://www.ejournals.ph/article.php?id=692. Retrieved on (October 15, 2023).