Why College Students Drop Out
(Dropout Problems)
Barbra Sillas
Rhetoric in Contemporary Culture
Amanda Sanker
Wednesday, August 21, 2013

(Dropout Problems)
Why College Students Drop Out

Why do so many students drop out before finishing or earning a degree? Although there are several factors that contribute to the percentage of college dropouts, two major studies have revealed the main reason students drop out of college. Although there are exceptions, most students begin college with every intention of graduating, but the percentage of the first year college dropouts is alarmingly high. In fact, 35% of students who enter college will drop out during the first year. Moreover, according to a 2005 report issued by “The Education Trust,” a Washington-based nonprofit group, only 63% of students who enroll in the four-year university will earn a degree, and it will take them an average of six years to do so. The other 37% will either drop out of college before finishing or else flunk out of their program of study. (USA TODAY).
Most recently, however, Mary Beth Marklien, writing for USA Today, reports that nationally, four-year colleges graduated an average of only 53% of entering students within 6 years, and graduation rates less than 30% are often the case, according to a report by the American Enterprise Institute, “a conservative think tank”(2011).
Four reasons for dropouts: Rising Tuition, Too Much Stress, Insufficient Preparation or Motivation, and Family Issues. Working students more likely to drop out of college. Unlike in the past, many students today work and have families, and although they might receive financial aid of some sort, it’s not enough to live on or to support a family. In summary, the main reason the percent of first year college dropout students is so high is because students need to survive, and they simply cannot survive in today’s economy without holding down a job, and when the stress of working is coupled with that of going to school, not to mention that of raising a family, students buckle under stress. That is why parents, as well as the educational system, must provide students with as much financial assistance as possible. Otherwise, many who might have graduate and found well-paying jobs, as well as a feeling of accomplishment, will instead contend themselves with menial jobs and live out their lives wondering “What if?”

References
Markein, M (2011), *4-Year Colleges Graduate 53% of students in 6 Years.*Usatoday.com
College(http://www.publicagenda.org/files/pdf/theirwholelivesaheadofthem.pdf)