Discrepancies About The Ages Of The Age Of Students

Prior to 1947, Junior Colleges were available to assist with the need for post-secondary education (Breach, 2010). There were influxes of high schools students looking to enter college; however, many of these students did not poses the skillset required to enter an institution

Community colleges in the United States develop rapidly and have become a vital component of the postsecondary education delivery system. As of 2011-2012 school year, 45% of all undergraduate students were enrolled in public two-year colleges, approximately 8.3 million students (Knapp et al., 2012. Cited by AACC Fast Facts). And it seems that with globalization and Obama’s education agenda, the trend of growing enrollment in community colleges won’t change. A high school graduate who decides to pursue postsecondary education may face with a dilemma--whether enroll in a community college or a traditional four-year college. Even within a community college, a student may be faced with a choice—enroll in a vocational program and enter workforce after graduation with a vocational certification, or choose an academic program with an intention of transferring to four-year institutions.

A first-generation college student is the first person in a family to attend college or any type of secondary education. This title “first-generation college student” has created a stigma for so many students making their time in college more difficult than someone who has come from a family of college graduates. First-generation college students often find themselves lost and without the edge of students who come from parents and/or siblings who went to college.

Vincent Tinto's Student Integration Theory of Persistence (1975, 1993) poses that students who feel involved with their institution are more likely to stay with and graduate from their institution of higher education. Tinto developed

Investigating college-readiness by looking at the data for particular groups pinpoints definite achievement gaps. The profile of a college student in the United States reveals that about 60% of recent graduate are “not college-ready” (Kirst, 2007). High school graduation data broken down by ethnicity indicates that 97% of African Americans and 90% of Hispanics are not college-ready upon high school completion (Collins, 2009). This percentage compares to 33% of Caucasian and 25% of Asian students being college-ready at high school completion (Bettinger & Long, 2007). Further, an investigation of gender disparities reveal that males and females tend to perform similarly on college readiness

Bradbury, B, & Mather, P. (2009). The Integration of First Year- Generation College Students from Ohio Appalachia. NASPA Journal, 46(2), 258-281.

Many students go through school not knowing the resources or qualification to graduate and move on. Statistics indicate many students are not preparing adequately for postsecondary education

Models of retention are in existence and the most often cited model is that of Vincent Tinto (1975) who introduced the importance of student integration, socially and academically in the prediction of student retention (1975, 1993). The framework was based on the work of Emile Durkhiem’s suicide theory (1951) that pointed to one’s unsuccessful integration into society as a strong precursor of suicide. In a , Tinto’s “Integration Model” suggested that retention is related to the student’s ability and actions to become a pro-active participant in university life (Tinto, 1987). The model suggests the need for a match between the institutional environment and student commitment. A good match leads to higher student integration into the academic and social domains of university life and the notion of completion. John Bean (1990) is in full agreement of the necessity of integration, as the author of the Student Attrition Model Bean deviates from Tinto’s model and stresses that students’ beliefs which subsequently shape their attitudes is the predictor of their persistence. Students’ beliefs are affected by the interaction between the students and different components

There is a prevalence of underprepared students entering postsecondary education. The College Board (2013) reports as many as 57% of students completing the SAT exams did not meet the benchmark for college level coursework; this figure may present low, as it does not necessarily include the countless students who do not attempt the test, as they are planning on attending postsecondary schools not requiring these scores for admissions or not planning on continuing their education after high school. Individuals might point fingers at secondary education and blame them for not preparing the college freshman adequately, but unfortunately, there are a myriad of influences that generate this educational skills gap.

The demands from both the general public and external stakeholders for colleges and universities to be held more accountable to the students who walk through their doors are increasing. Researchers have documented compelling issues that impact student success at institutions of higher education. College enrollees are forced to make life-changing decisions throughout their four to six year journey in hopes of ensuring a bright future by successfully attaining a degree. Unfortunately, there are colleges and universities across the country that are failing to deliver sufficient support and students are finding it difficult to manage the challenges of academia and integrating into the social and cultural fabric of the campus environment. It is because of these challenges that institutions of higher education must convincingly make student support programs the catalyst for proactively addressing the particular needs of their students.

After high school, most students want to go to college. However, some students do not want to begin college right after high school. This is due to financial problems or students not being ready to be apart from family. The order, in which societies and many cultures have set, for the time in a person’s life, which he should go to college, was set for a reason. Students are expected to graduate from high school, attend and graduate college, then go on to a career. Students who keep this order tend to experience all they can in their earlier years of life, and have a career in which they can use the experiences they have accumulated from college. This will in turn create a financial and stress free life in their adult years. Students should not wait a year before they enter college because they can get involved with things that will stop them from going to college, forget knowledge from high school, or lose out on opportunities because of their age difference.

It turns out, of youth ages 16 to 24, which is (68.4 percent of graduates) were enrolled in college in October. An assumption would be that student under 18 in colleges is not as rare as most people think.

Much has been written about the pitfalls of the college freshman year for graduating high school students, but there is little material aimed at the non-traditional adult student, especially one who opts to take online courses. My quest for a college degree has spanned two decades and has taken place in three different states. As I reflect back on my experience each time I rekindled my educational quest, it is surprising how many of the issues I faced were not that different from those of recent high school graduates starting their freshman year. I faced the most challenges when I decided to take classes online.

    The first of these barriers that are difficult to overcome are people with disadvantaged backgrounds, or suffer from some sort of socio-economic disadvantage. People from low-income families that have incomes under the threshold set by the U.S. Bureau of Census are described as people who suffer from having this disadvantage (LSU 1). The problem affects many, but it starts becoming a problem for younger adult students.  According to Forsyth and Forlong, “Despite the recent expansion of higher education, levels of participation and chances of academic success are still lowest among young people from deprived neighbourhoods” (1). “Socio-economic disadvantage and experience in higher education, by Alasdair Forsyth and Andy Furlong” states that “Although there has been an increase in the numbers of university entrants from more disadvantaged backgrounds in recent years, such young people have been enjoying less success within higher education” (1). There are four main contributors that are the culprits: a lack of familiarity

In Following Their Every Move: An Investigation of Social-Class Differences In College Pathways the author Sara Goldrick-Rab (2014) explores the growth not only in the number of higher educational institutions but in diverse student populations. This growth has changed the ways students attend or transition into the college experience. Goldrick-Rab (2014) cites a statistic from MCCromick (2003) that really surprised me that states “today, 47 percent to 50 percent of undergraduates who begin at a four-year college attend more then one institution within six years, and 15 percent to 19 percent attend more then two” (Goldrick-Rab,2014, p. 392). Students mobility patterns in the wider system of education are much more of a concern then just a few