College Retention And Graduation Rate

Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle in their book “Rereading America” feel that commencing college is a very disturbing experience. So many things we have to deal while starting college, but the major challenges are expanded difficulty levels and higher expectation which we are not familiar over the years of high school. In order to solve this issue, we have to remodel ourselves by taking up the challenge and rethink about our strength and flaws. To succeed in college we need to be mentally strong and dedicated towards our goal.

Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life. The first is the financial aspect of college. Second, is the relationship between the professors and students. Third is time management. These three factors play an important role in why people are afraid to go down the path to college.

“In fall 2016, some 20.5 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities, constituting an increase of about 5.2 million since fall 2000” (National Center for Education Statistics). That number seems to be rising each and ever year, and it almost seems as students feel like they have to go to college directly after high school. Maybe it is because they feel that they have to fit in, even if college is not for them. Although some students attend college for academics, sports, and other reasons, some students attend college for no apparent reason; with that in mind, students should take into consideration the time and money that is put into going to college.

It often proves challenging sending a child to college. Young adulthood is usually an important time for career decision-making and growth (Whiston, & Keller, 2004).College is a large step and responsibility to ascertain on a college bound student. It proves to have freedom to do well in school but also to waste valuable time and money. It is often looked as an investment, but to many others it is viewed as a challenging subject to dedicate. Many student get discouraged as students study medicine, biology and other PhD candidacy in college. Others look at the very immediate action that must be taken care of, that subject area is known as tuition.

Despite the fact that student’s desire is to gain a good education, some students fail their first year of college because they are not ready to pursue college life.

College Education is the end of uphill battle for students. These vital and rigorous educations provide greater opportunities in life. A lot of hardships are

Excluding those in highly prestigious institutions, Black students have low college graduation rates. I have found that Black students are finishing college less often because of stereotype threat, lack of preparation, and lack of support. Solutions to these problems are involved college counselors, learning cohorts, and decent funding for all primary and secondary schools.

The faculty developed a system of support to advocate the academic and personal success for each student by utilizing the academy theme. The incoming freshman has a personal transition plan, which sets the foundation for their high school career. The personal transition plan also enable students to develop passion and deepen their purpose for life. To increase college and career readiness for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented students, the Early College program is an example of tweaking the personalized learning pathway to change the trajectory of the

Starting in high school, students are not given equal opportunities to excel because of family background. Furthermore, the admissions process itself has its flaws—legacies, minorities, and athletes are being chosen over exceptionally gifted valedictorians. Even after college, the problems do not end; possible joblessness and student debt are unavoidable. On top of these major problems, educators and parents continue to convince kids everywhere that college is the only option to become successful, and choosing another path is heavily looked down upon. The newest generation’s life is centered around the climax of college while at the same time, more and more students are unable to attend universities because of cost or rejection, but this is a paradox. The more high schoolers work hard, the more high schoolers will get turned down to their dream schools, and the more the college admissions process effectively become a lottery, leading to “many highly talented, brilliant, creative people thinking they’re not” (Robinson). The widespread college problem has no easy fix, nor does it have a single solution. Rather than working to fix the unfixable, adults must stop putting such emphasis on the college pathway, and instead stress that there are other options. The future of the job world is unknown; there is no way to know if an expensive college education is the right choice. College, with all of its flaws, is just one option in preparing for the future; it is not necessarily the best. Therefore, the single word, “college,” should stop dividing the academic from the non-academic or the successful from the unsuccessful, and instead be considered a single path in an array of worthy

As a result, students and parents are starting to prepare for college much later than researchers recommend (Bell et al., 2009; Gibbons et al., 2006). According to research from Bell et al. (2009), students who attend schools with personnel dedicated to college guidance are more likely to feel confident about and familiar with the college application process. This finding is particularly significant, as first-generation college students report lower positive outcome expectations related to attending college, which can in turn impact their intentions, interests, and goals. Furthermore, with prospective first-generation college students reporting greater barriers related to college going, it is essential that counselors dedicated to college access are available to help raise positive expectations, as well as challenge negative expectations for this population (Gibbons & Borders, 2010). Although 65 percent of first-generation college students expressed interest in attending a four-year university in Gibbons et al.’s (2006) research, just 53 percent of all prospective first-generation college students were enrolled in college-preparatory courses. As a result, some counselors have started to realize how the rigor of classes is a systemic barrier

“Kids who are the first in their families to brave the world of higher education come on campus with little academic know-how and are much more likely than their peers to drop out before graduation” (1). Many people believe that school isn’t for everyone, and whoever goes is privileged for doing so. Countless people in the world today do not attend college, and this is mainly due to an influence of those in their family. Perhaps they are unsupportive of higher education, their parents and family members may view their entry into college as a break in the family system rather than a continuation of their schooling and higher learning. Most of the first-generation students decide to apply to colleges, because they aspire to jobs which require degrees. However, unlike some students whose parents have earned a degree, they often seek out college to bring honor to their families, and to ensure they make a decent amount of money for their future.

Student retention is an issue that has been plaguing college and universities for a very long time. Retention of students in higher education in itself has many facets some of which follow a positive order such as when students go from a two year institution to a four year institution and a negative when students just drop out of school. Either event can cause an economic disruption unless this is something that is expected or planned for. Institution with formula funding is very sensitive to such swing in student demographics. While not desirable it is a fact that some institution have grown to accept.

College is a major topic of discussion for students in high school who seek to further their education. Many high school students look forward to the opportunity of attending a college or university. However, others become discouraged with the thought of paying for a higher education and being potential buried in debt soon afterwards. The discussion comes into questioning due to the biggest challenge that students face when preparing to go to school. In today’s society students are inquiring if college is right for them because of the lack of employment rate of those whom already have attained college degrees.

For every students that are preparing to graduate high school, they often wonder if they should attend another 4 years of school for a higher education or not. This is an argument that has been going on in the mind of these individual, just minutes away from graduating high school. For them, there are many different factors that goes into that equation such as personal’s goals, and where they stand on the issues of finances. College are not for everyone, it takes time, dedication and money. There are people who meet these requirement but in truth, they are afraid of not being able to live up to the expectation of the people around them; people who wants to go to college but are unable to afford the expenses; people who are afraid of being in debt all they lives; people who believe they are good enough at sports, thus not wanting to go to college. While these are all valid reasons, recent studies indicated that a better education is worth that risk.

Many colleges and universities throughout the United States and several other countries face a common problem. Student retention is a growing problem across the nation for all ethnic groups and all ages. Each individual who chooses to drop out of school has their own personal reasons as to why they do. However, many drops out can be completely avoided. When students drop out they are not clearly thinking about how it’s going to affect their future, the future of their children and even grandchildren. Although there are several reasons as to why students drop out of school, we will be exploring a few as it relates to why student retention is a growing problem.