Students who withdraw from the institution before graduating can fall into many different areas of reason. From illness and family issues, that can in fact impact a student's life. Though students who withdraw for no apparent reason were influenced by not receiving the transparent truth regarding classes, tests, and the amount of time that needs to be dedicated to passing the class. Each student also learns differently from the next and where the student was not fully aware of the courses involved could easily drive their decision to withdraw.
Students may withdraw from school because of extenuating circumstances. Death in the family, illness, being a first generation student, or not having enough time or resources to progress. Students need academic and student support services to be successful in school. Students could also withdraw because they did not have all the necessary information or tools to persist through the program. It is the school's responsibility to provide the appropriate resources.
There are several reasons that I see students withdraw before graduating. In my experience, I believe that ultimately it's a "failure" on both parts. I believe the student may not have been fully prepared to start school. HOWEVER, I also believe that it is a failure on our part, as well. Perhaps, we could have helped the student make a more informed or better choice upon enrollment. We have put policies in place to help reduce, if not eliminate, student withdrawals.
It ultimately comes down to communication. Students need to know, up front, that school requires a lot of dedication and discipline. Our student are told this in the admission's process and the concept in re-enforced throughout their program
Most of students leave due to unexpected family or personal issues.
I feel that students may leave for a number of reasons. If a student was not informed properly of the work required outside of the class, then he or she may have taken on more than they can handle. Some students realize half way through the program that they want to do a different career. Some students are thrown obstacles that are hard to overcome, like transportation issues, job loss, or babysitter issues. Students have to really see the benefits of post-secondary education to overcome all challenges.
Sarah,
Absolutely, there are so may reasons why, particularly, non-traditional students do not complete their education. Many reasons we do not have control over, but what we can do is, as you say, ensure a supportive and skill-relevant environment where expectations are reasonable yet challenging and where information is fully and accurately disclosed so that students know where they stand at all times.
Jay Hollowell
There are various reasons students withdrawal. First, I would like to believe all students are attending our institution for the right reasons, but the reality is, that is not always the case. With this in mind, it is even more important that the students, who are attending for the right ones, are actively supported. In addition, because you can’t accurately determine a student’s intentions 100% of the time, you must treat everyone as a future graduate. This is important so that you have the opportunity to change the lives of students who may have originally came to school for the wrong reason.
Another reason for withdrawals is academic support. Our student population takes many steps before they enter our doors. It is important when they do, they know help is actively available. ALL THE TIME. For some, the hardest part, is just making it to the building. It is then their turn to take/ask for help. Setting the culture to ensure that students know they can do that is also of huge benefit to the college.
Students leave, drop, withdraww for reasons such as
Personal
Family Issues
Health
SAP issues
Sometimes we never know why people choose to withdraw
This is also true for our school. The majority of students that leave are due to personal or family issues.
I think that there are many reason students withdraw before completing his or her program. The top one being financial reasons, they need to go back to work in order to pay their bills and they do not have enough financial aid to supplement their income. Some students also lack the self confidence and discipline it takes to achieve their educational goals so it is easier for them to give up and withdraw.
Most students have to have a balance between all of the areas of their life - home, parents, work, faith, children, social life...and school is just another area that is added in. If the student cannot find a balance that works for all these areas eventually school will drop in their importance and they will withdraw. Sometimes leaving school is a planned short term break with intent to come back, while others realize that they will never want to pursue graduation due to the sacrifices needed to reach success.
From my experience I believe students drop out because they can not balance school and home life .
Trudy,
Good evening. Thank you for sharing your eloquent opinion of why students set aside there education to meet their needs. The question that remains is "How can the schools assist the students to overcome their obstacles?"
Cindy Bryant
Many of my students live in a house of cards. It's poorly built and has too many facets. When one of those cards goes, the whole structure tumbles and school becomes their last priority. These include:
Sketchy transportation
Inadequate housing
Inadequate childcare
Poor self esteem
Reliance on changing welfare programs
Inadequate academic preparation for post-secondary education
Culture of poverty
Lack of financial knowledge and acumen
Family members who don't support their goal and even actively seek to sabotage them
Unrealistic expectations of what college is like
Sadly I know of too many students as well who are here just to get their refund checks.
There are times when we as a college fail them too, and we seek to remedy those situations as quickly as possible. Through the disclosures we try to make sure the student knows what they are getting into with starting a particular program of study.
It appears to me that the prevailing reason for students not to complete a program derives from outside the school. Life influences can be the major reason for a student's lack of success, attendance or withdrawing completely. Often times overall communication between the school and the student is to blame. When a student does not admit to an issue there is no way to correct anything.
Karla,
If this is the case...then how can the career college reduce the attrition rate?
Cindy Bryant
In my opinion most students withdraw mainly for current financial status. Meaning they may have to stop going to school to get a part time job or their current job may not be willing to with their class schedule...especially if it doesn't benefit the current job. Alot of times it can also have to do with their home environment, ie child care or a non supportative spouse.
Kourtnee,
Hi! You are right, students have various reasons for leaving school. The key is that we all understand that we cannot save each and every student but if we enable just a few to overcome their obstacles and become successful then we have succeeded.
Cindy Bryant
Students leave for many reasons. They may have family issuse that have to attend to. They move out of state financial hardship.
In most cases, the student that "drops out" is the one who is not prepared to complete the ATTENDANCE requirements. They may say that they are commotted, plan to attend, and really want to garduate. However, life presents obstacles, and the students must be able to overcome the obstacles to succeed. In my experience, most academic challenges may be overcome with tutoring and hard work, and proper FA packaging limits most financial challenges, but if the student does not attend regularly, the challenges become overwhelming.
