Page 1319 – Family Council

College Graduation Rate Remains Flat Despite State Lottery

Oct 29, 2014JerryArkansas LotteryArkansas Lottery

One of the selling points of the Arkansas Lottery was that it would send more students to college and bring more college graduates into Arkansas’ workforce. However, as the Lottery celebrates its fifth anniversary, college graduation statistics seem to show the Arkansas Lottery isn’t living up to its promises.

According to data from the Chronicle of Higher Education, from 2002 to 2007 Arkansas’ graduation rate rose roughly 5%. In 2002, 15% of college students in Arkansas graduated in 4 years, and 35% graduated in 6 years. By 2007, 20.7% of students graduated in 4 years, and 40% graduated in 6 years.

Since 2007, however, the graduation rates have remained fairly flat. By 2010 only 19.7% of Arkansas college students graduated in 4 years, and 38.7% graduated in 6.

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More Evidence Marriage and Family are Good for the Economy

Oct 28, 2014JerryFamily, MarriageFamily, Marriage

We have written before about research revealing how marriage contributes to household income. Studies from the Heritage Foundation have shown marriage is as effective at raising household income as adding a few years to a person’s education. In other words, being married with a college degree puts a person’s income in the same range as that of someone with, for example, some graduate school education or a Master’s degree. This week there is more emerging evidence that marriage is good for parents and children.

According to a new study by officials from the National Marriage Project, “Growing up with both parents (in an intact family) is strongly associated with more education, work, and income among today’s young men and women. Young men and women from intact families enjoy an annual ‘intact-family premium’ that amounts to $6,500 and $4,700, respectively, over the incomes of their peers from single-parent families.”

If those numbers hold true, that means a young adult who grew up in an intact family with a mother and father present will earn roughly $200,000 – $290,000 more over the course of his or her career than someone who grew up in a single-parent household.

There are plenty of other factors to consider. As other researchers have noted, children with a married mother and father do better in school; have fewer discipline problems and are less likely to get in trouble with the law; and are more likely to go on to college. However, one thing these positive outcomes all have in common is a married mother and father.

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Don’t Let Election Day Sneak Up on You!

Oct 28, 2014JerryArkansas Voter's GuideArkansas Voter's Guide, Elections

Early voting is going on right now, and Election Day is just seven days away. Don’t let the elections sneak up on you!

Too many people wait until Election Day before trying to figure out who which candidates they will support. Part of casting an informed vote is knowing ahead of time who is running and where they stand on the issues.

We’ve talked a lot about the Arkansas Voter’s Guide this year. To date we have distributed roughly 160,000 printed copies of the guide–and we still have more printed copies available. To order your free, printed Arkansas Voter’s Guide, click here. You can order for yourself, your church, your Sunday school class, your friends, your family–whoever! But don’t wait too long to order, because Election Day is approaching quickly, and supplies are running out.

If you prefer to read the Arkansas Voter’s Guide online, the links below will take you directly to portions of the online guide.

I hope you will take advantage of the Arkansas Voter’s Guide, and I hope you will do your best to vote wisely in the upcoming election.