There are many reasons students withdraw - personal life circumstances, military leave, wasn't what they expected or wanted in the curriculum or job outcome, and financial reasons, to name a few.
Many students leave an institution because of lack of support, or perceived lack of support, while enrolled in their program. Whether it is financial issues, work conflict, child care concerns, or medical care issues a number of problems care arrise during a student's education. It is the institution's responsibility to provide support to students in these various areas in an effort to prevent withdrawal and mitagate risk for losing students prior to graduation.
Isabel,
Welcome to the forum. There are several studies and reports that indicate that the majority of "drops" occur within the first 3 courses. For arguments sake, let's assume that many of these drops are related to poor teaching methods. What would be the best strategy to reduce attrition?
Cindy Bryant
Students withdraw for many reasons, it could be because of family/personal issues or it could be because they are unsure if they are ready for a new change. Also another reason can be because the student is not learning anything due to the instructor not teaching well.
Nestor,
Many times the students fail to be able to think critically through their problems. Sometimes a phone call and/or mentor reaching out is all it takes to turn the student back around.
Cindy Bryant
Some are not emotionally prepared. Some students are excited about getting an education to better themselves and quickly enroll before they are emotionally prepare for the commitment. Once enrolled, and as they go through the program, they realize the hard work. As soon as they have any financial, child care, emergency or just life problems, it easier for them to just put off their education.
The no longer find value in the insitution and are not motivated to continue.
Nancy,
I agree that it is difficult to pinpoint one particular reason as everyone's circumstances are different. Maybe the question should be what can the school do to help students stay?
Cindy Bryant
Students leave school for a variety of reasons. There is not one specific answer. The majority of the time students have a personal issues that need to be resolved such as no transportation, no child care, moving to another community, taking care of a sick relative, or possibly they need to seek immediate employment. Frequently, students will resume their education after they settle these challenges and personal obligations.
James,
Engaging students in the classroom can be trying at best. Have you ever attended a staff meeting where some of your colleagues were, for lack of a better phrase, not paying attention? Grading homework? Having private conversations? Texting?
As we know all too well, students aren't a whole lot different than instructors: If they aren't absorbed by what's going on, they'll find something else that interests them.
You, as an educator, must be on stage when teaching. In today's society students are accustomed to having everything right away. This means that maybe you should consider engaging in social media techniques while in the classroom. An example, would be having students text the answer rather than blurt out the answer.
Cindy Bryant
James,
Engaging students in the classroom can be trying at best. Have you ever attended a staff meeting where some of your colleagues were, for lack of a better phrase, not paying attention? Grading homework? Having private conversations? Texting?
As we know all too well, students aren't a whole lot different than instructors: If they aren't absorbed by what's going on, they'll find something else that interests them.
You, as an educator, must be on stage when teaching. In today's society students are accustomed to having everything right away. This means that maybe you should consider engaging in social media techniques while in the classroom. An example, would be having students text the answer rather than blurt out the answer.
Cindy Bryant
Patricia,
Thank you for sharing your opinion. What are your thoughts on students leaving because admissions fails to set the proper expectations?
Cindy Bryant
Sherree,
Thanks for participating in the forum. Generally, students will terminate from school because of those very reasons. How can this be avoided?
Cindy Bryant
In my opinion students withdraw because the teacher/school is no meeting their expectations or the instructor is not making a connection with their students, when your happy with the school or teacher, no matter how many problems you have you will always make it work with the school or teacher
Most of the time students leave the program before graduating because they are bored. Why should they sit in a class and be bored and have to follow rules when they could just as easily sit at home and be bored and not have to follow school rules? Instructors need to be positive and upbeat with new challenges every day to keep students excited about their education.
Students leave because of alot of factors, the course was not what they expected,the work that it takes to finnish the course was to hard for them.
As others have stated, I think the primary reason that students withdraw is that expectations, reasonable or not, are not being met.
Unfortunately, expectations are sometimes unrealistic. This may come about because the institution and/or its staff improperly set expectations that a student expects will meet his or her needs, when the reality is markedly different. This could also be true of the student, who enrolls with unrealistic expectations of what the school can reasonably provide. Both sides have a responsibility to establish a realistic understanding both of what is expected of the other and what is necessary for academic success.
I also think expectations change over time. A student's life may be drastically different at a future time and what meets his or her needs at the time of enrollment may no longer align with an institution's requirements or expectations.
I think that many times students simply have problems that come into their lives that conflict with the ability to attend schools. It could be child care, health issues, loss of employment, or even stress in general. I think that many of these issues are temporary and that once resolved students can come back to school but often times these problems are issues that the student doesn't manage before coming into school and they realize it is too late. We all fall into these traps- the student needs to realize that school is a commitment and needs to get their life in order to maintain the commitment as well as prepare for future issues so that they can stay in school in order to finish their degree.
Linda,
Beginning in admissions the expectations must be clearly outlined. The faculty has the responsibility to meet those expectations. These two variables help create value for the student, if they can not find value in their education (or anything in life) it is easy to walk away.
Cindy Bryant
Tearee,
Thank you for providing a solid response to the question. Your assessment covers four critical areas that the program integrity rules should be able to impact in a positive manner.
Cindy Bryant
