Causes of High College Dropout Rates
There has been an increased rate in the number of students that drop out of college. Students are faced with many challenges while undertaking their studies making some to resolve to quit their studies or pursue it later on. Some of the causes of the high number of college dropouts include financial problems, conflict of interest among those working while studying, stress and family issues.
Financial Problems Leading to College Dropout
One of the causes of low college completion rate is attributed to financial constraints that learners face while in college. According to Blanchfield (2016), the reason why most student’s dropout of college is due to lack finances to keep them going with their studies and even though most take loans it still is not enough. Most face challenges to pay for their rent, buying books and money to pay for personal needs. Tinto, (2016) claims that most cases of students dropping out of school can be attributed to lack of money and most of these students go online to look for scholarships and also check with their school’s monetary aid office but fail to get assistance forcing them to leave school. The cost of tuition and school fees can lead to students dropping out of school, tuition insurance can be an excellent way to prevent this crisis, and students are usually reluctant to pay for insurance while paying for their tuition bills. Coverage is nominal and cannot be compared to losing pre-paid fee due to mid-semester withdrawals (Bean, 2017). According to Bean (2017), many colleges have a strict refund policy of the tuition fee due to the challenges that students face while studying and only allow a student to have partial reimbursement if a student drops out during the first seven days of attending classes. Specific insurance covers the balance of a student when they withdraw and the reason is included, such as Allianz Global and prevents the student from carrying substantial financial losses (Bean, 2017). Even though many students drop out of college due to economic issues research shows that more than half of students that quit learning get an income that is $35000 less when compared with the quarter that finish (Blanchfield, 2016).
Conflict of Interest: Balancing Work and Studies
Students leave school due to conflict of interest between work and attending classes. Blanchfield, (2016) suggests that confusion, where to focus attention, can affect undergraduate and postgraduate students, some give up school due to this, and even if they enroll for part-time classes they still face the challenge of serving two masters and this study-work balance comes with many problems. According to studies conducted on dropouts, it was realized that three-quarter of dropouts claimed that their work contributed to their desertion while a third admitted that it was hard to balance school with work. According to Blanchfield (2016), due to the high cost of education, most students look for jobs while studying most even seek full-time situations that tend to take up time meant to be for schoolwork. Some students due to work only attend one class per semester to ease up the pressure for them to complete their degrees, most learners that suspend classes believe that graduating from campus is a commitment that takes time and don’t see anything wrong with extending the time they needed to graduate (Tinto, 2016). Work is a reason why many students in college drop school according to a study 71% do not finish school since it is hard to find time for school and occupation and if a freshman struggles with work and studies it is a sign they will not be able to graduate (Tinto, 2016). The research shows that 60% of learners that fail to graduate claim that they felt that making money was wiser than investing their time in education hoping that they would get more money in future giving up their studies this was proven correct for both long and short-term job force (Blanchfield, 2016).
Stress and Its Impact on College Dropout
Students who failed to clear school claim that college comes with a lot of stress, and eventually some students give up their studies. Blanchfield (2016) suggests that college is stressful especially for those that have just cleared high school and end up realizing that coursework, when mixed with personal life with the sense of self-dependence, stresses students and if they do not adjust and cope with the issue and recognize their studies is all that matters. High school students who join college immediately find the workload too stressing and realize they need to put in more effort in their books and invest a lot of time in their studies than anticipated eating up time meant to relax (Tinto, 2016). According to Bean (2017), many students go into college without settling on their major when they start classes and when they advance in their studies if they do not declare what they are going to major in they end up losing their peace of mind. Students need to meet with professors or advisors as they attend classes to get advice on how to choose a major or finding something they are passionate about and sticking with it (Bean, 2017). Learners face the responsibility of ensuring that their grades are excellent and constant failure in certain classes denies them peace and some get forced to repeat previous courses rather than progressing making a lot of lessons that a student has to study for that piles up making them stressed and demotivated (Tinto, 2016). Students who fail their classes get stressed while undertaking their courses since they end up feeling they cannot handle the occupation after school, paying for the extra years of studying, feeling depressed when their peers are progressing and may even feel they are not suited for their major (Bean, 2017).
Family Issues and College Dropout
Family issues play a significant role in the studies of learners and can affect their performance either positively or negatively. According to Blanchfield (2016, the family is mostly the support system for students and may be a source of motivation while going about their studies. Issues that affect one's household can cause massive negative impact to students, and these issues may lead to some quitting in life and their education. Family can be a stressor and burden in one's studies and brings about psychological torture making a learner not be able to focus on their education especially during emergencies that may be beyond anybody’s control such as the death of a household member that is sponsoring a student’s fee (Bean, 2017). Lecturers are understanding and supportive of students in the event they are faced with problems that originate from home and may let a student finish their coursework on planned time if addressed early (Bean, 2017). Blanchfield (2016) and Bean (2017) claim that parental involvement plays a prominent role in a child wanting to stay in school and does not apply only to high school learners. A study shows that children who have guardians that are involved in their schoolwork tend to put more effort into their studies and eventually finish school as compared to those that pay little attention. Many students that end up dropping out of school claim that they got inadequate financial assistance from their families and study shows that 58% of dropout claims they did not get any assistance from their family as compared to 38% of those that graduate. Parental support also plays a prominent role in the college the students end up getting enrolled at with those that don’t get enough support choosing schools looking at factors such as proximity while those being supported chose schools based on academic reputation (Blanchfield, 2016; Tinto, 2016). Family commitments also are an indicator if a student will continue with their studies till the end especially those who work to feed the family or female students who have young kids or family to take care of since they have to multitask between school work and handling issues back home (Bean, 2017).
Students are faced with such challenges as financial constraints, family issues, lack of time for studies amongst those that are working and stress. Action needs to be taken to reduce this trend and to encourage students to finish their studies and helping parents to get involved with their children studies amongst other measures so that more college students can end up graduating.
References
Bean, J. P. (1985). Interaction Effects Based on Class Level in an Explanatory Model of College Student Dropout Syndrome. American Educational Research Journal, 22(1), 35–64. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312022001035
Blanchfield, W. C. (1971). College Dropout Identification. The Journal of Experimental Education, 40(2), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.1971.11011309
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89–125. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543045001089
