It is important to keep students focused on their dream. For students who enroll in career colleges, the dream is typically a new career, something more than just a job. Having placement involved from the very beginning goes a long way in helping keep students focused on that end goal. At our campus, the placement department does workshops/activities starting at orientation and occuring in every classroom every month. Workshops are designed to be fun and interactive and help students with everything from how having a plan enables them to be more successful to identifying their unique talents and skills to being successful on the interview.
I have known instructors who ask new students to write a paragraph or two about their dream. When the student is discouraged, this can be pulled out and given to the student to read to remind them of why they are in school.
The idea of getting an administrator involved in the admissions process is intriguing. Please tell us more about it - who is involved, how long is the interview, what are they looking for, has it changed your acceptance rate, etc.
Some of our programs require that the students take a National Exam after graduation in order to get licensed. We ask the students to come back to the school and let us know the results of the test. When they pass, we have them ring a really loud bell up and down the hallway. Usually, all the staff members, faculty and students come out in the hall and clap and cheer. Current students will surround the graduated student and ask them all sorts of questions about the test and how they studied for it and so on. It shows the in school students that success is close and lets the graduated student bask in the accomplishment at hand.
We have found that having a gradually intensifying program that starts with an on campus admissions interview, with an upper level administrator, sets the right tone for the student as they progress through the program. Past mistakes we have made include not having admissions interviews with administrators as the last part of admissions and having the program jump from a slow start to much more difficult extremely quickly.
When the pain exceeds the perceived gain, students leave. You can manage this situation by attacking either or both sides of this equation.
Pain management involves staying tuned in to what is happening with each student - both in and out of the classroom. The sooner you are able to provide support when a student encounters problems, the better your chances of avoiding 'pain'.
Do you track the points of your programs when students frequently become frustrated and drop out? You may find that there are specific danger points in the program. Re-examine how you deliver content, searching for ways to improve. You also may discover that you have a staffing problem, with faculty working to weed out students.
On the 'gain' side, routine reminders about the improved future are useful. Visits from graduates, mentors, and visits to work sites are just a few ways to keep current students connected with their dream. Are you doing these things? What else might you do to energize your students?
I don't think it's that they really don't want to be there or that they lose interst; I think they get scared. Nobody wants to fail. Does your school have a tutoring program? We offer free tutoring to our students in the afternoon and on Saturdays. You could try to form a student to student tutoring group.
I also think that the excitement wears off and reality sets in. Most of the time they are working, going to school and trying to take care of a family. There is a lot on their plate and they may be overwhelmed. Again, students may be able to help each other.
