I Quit! Top Ten Reasons Students Don't Finish College

Many community college students have a lot going on when they begin their studies; the academic and time demands of taking classes often adds a lot more to do in an already-busy life.  Most have responsibilities in their personal lives and bills that need to be paid.  They have groceries to buy, kids to take care of, and cars to keep running.  The number one reason they drop out is because they have to work, according to the results of a national survey of 614 young college students, ages 22 to 30, that was recently released.  The hardest challenge for some students is figuring out how to juggle everything and stay in college, and in many cases, they can't.  And when the rubber hits the road, dropping out of college is usually the first thing to be sacrificed. 


Source:  http://www.publicagenda.org/


Top 10 Reasons College Students Leave/Drop-Out:
1.   Demands from part-time or full-time employment while managing school.
2.   Not staying current with homework and/or studying.
3.   NOT GOING TO CLASS!
4.   A sense of not belonging; a sense of isolation, homesickness.
5.   Financial constraints; low on funds.
6.   Personal family issues.
7.   Academic courses not challenging enough or too challenging
8.   The college does not offer the degree of interest for the student.
9.   Lack of advising, guidance from parents or academic counselors.
10. Moving to a different geographic location.

Let's be real here.  College isn’t for everyone, or maybe it's not the right time to attend college now. Whether it's the cost, the lack of direction, having more work than you imagined, or missing friends who went away to school, college can be a challenge that some aren’t ready for. Pursuing an education often doesn’t get easier as time goes by (especially if one's circumstances don't change or improve), and there will always be some reason to withdraw early.  How can you manage your life so you can avoid being included in these statistics?


QUESTION:  Have you considered dropping out?  What are/were your reasons?
Sources:  http://collegesurvivalblog.com/ , http://www.publicagenda.org




(All images courtesy of Google Images, unless otherwise indicated.)
(c) 2012 Robyn M. Posson