Making the decision to go to school is a huge commitment. In my opinion most students drop out because they do not realize the dedication and amount of hours that go into school and they feel overwhelmed so rather than forging through and making the most of it they give up and leave.
Sometimes life happens. Sometimes they are too lazy to honor their commitments.
Several reasons: it was harder then they expected; doing it just for the financial aid stipend; lazy; got a "good enough" job; personal crisis; discouraged due to a bad grade; feel like they haven't been helped enough.
Family and personal issues arise. Some students get afraid that they can't succeed and don't want to have a big bill for nothing.
In my opinion students withdraw because of life situations that happen...Could be a death in the family, transportation issues, daycare etc...For some people it is alot harder to recover from these opsticles.
In my experience, I believe that a large number of students withdraw due to personal issues: financial (bills vs incoming revenue), child care, transportation, illness, or lack of vision of the big-picture, end result.
I agree with you as to the part of the student not really knowing the "full picture". I hear many times each semester as students are struggling that nursing school was more difficult than they had thought and was taking more time than they thought it would. I'm not sure how we can really prepare them for the reality, I do believe everyone tries to explain the rigors of the program, but until a student has "lived" it, they don't see the reality.
Thanks Vickie
I believe that institutions need to be fully transparent about the requirements and demands expected of students, once they enroll, and must continually coach students during their studies to help them achieve success and ultimately meet their career goals.
To the best of my knowledge, most students that leave the program during the initial semester of enrollment do so because of some major life event that makes the time commitment needed for a nursing program not feasible at that point in time. Many of those students do enroll again after that time has passed, but not all. Most of our students complete our program. Occasionally, someone will fail and choose not to continue, but this has been rare as staff and faculty work with the students to overcome issues before they result in student failure.
While it is easy as Admissions to "move on to the next class", I think we always have to keep touch with our students through collaboration with other staff. I think that it is very easy for students to lose vision. It's often easier to see the bumps in the roads and get hung up, versus seeing the carrot. Oftentimes I think students need to be reminded why they enrolled in the first place, and who better to "bring it back" than Admissions. While I don't discount that "life gets in the way", I think when you dig enough, you can find the true story, and then focus on true strategies to achieve graduation.
In my experience as a restart coordinator the biggest reason of student withdrawing before graduation is due to external forces ie childcare issues, working while in school, etc.
Any time they feel like someone in the Administration has been dishonest, or they get upset about anything they believe they were not told, they will usually leave.
I believe that most of the time it is due to personal issues from one thing to the next.
In my opinion, student withdrawal from school prior to graduation for a wide variety of reasons. Some include personal and family issues, medical issues, financial reasons, and time commitment.
In my opinion, most students leave an institution because they are not personally prepared to attend school. Many students have daycare, housing, and transportation issues that may be resolved upon enrolling, but their lives change often and drastically, leaving them without any viable backup plans.
I also think that many times when a student withdraws, school's do not get the full picture as to why they are dropping. Some students will tell you the "truth" as they see it, but the reality is often quite different.
Unforeseen personal issues unrelated to school such as health problems, economic problems i.e. they must return to full time work to support their family. The schools prescreening process is not always full proof. They may find school is more challenging than expected despite being fully informed. Transferability of credits can be a factor.
The problem often encountered is a student disappears, rather than a formal withdrawal. Phone #'s are disconnected and other methods of communication go unanswered. Often the student doesn't have a support network and the challenges of balancing school, finances, work, are daunting without proper intervention to give them the tools to handle these situations.
This is my first semester teaching for this particular school, but I have noticed certain patterns at the other universities for which I teach. It seems that students leave for several reasons. Sometimes they begin a course of study and lose interest. Sometimes real life concerns like marriage and babies come up and students drop out. Students may feel like they can't hack it in a university setting. In my own classes, though, the most common reason for students leaving is that they realize they're not going to get an excellent grade for sub-par work.
Data shows that the highest percentage of students drop within their first quarter. Balancing school/work/life can be challenging even when there is full disclosure of study time and course requirements prior to the class start. If one asks a student the last thing they completed, the majority of the time they have a hard time answering that question. Their pattern has been to start something and then stop when things get tough or other items on their plate take priority. In addition, students do not always possess time management skills or the best study skills. Students also leave when there is a lack of connection whether it be with their instructor, classmates, or the culture of the campus.
My view is that most students have learning barriers that become more important than the education or do not feel like they can finish due to a barrier. If the learning barrier or obstacle is not identified or address, the likelihood of the student withdrawing would be higher.
