College Dropout Rate

[GeauxSioux]

Good news: Dropout rate is high

Higher education has lately discovered that too many students are dropping out before graduation. Nationally, only 57 percent of those enrolled in four-year public institutions get degrees, even after six years, and locally it’s even lower. At the University of North Dakota, just 54 percent graduate; at North Dakota State University, it’s 47 percent; and Minnesota State University Moorhead reports just 40 percent. Students commonly spend years on campuses only to leave degreeless and in debt. So, there is a fever to keep them enrolled, somehow, until they get a diploma

And many who graduate do so only because standards have been lowered to accommodate them. Thus, kids who find history too boring or math too hard may select badminton and hip-hop studies instead. As such, the “education” most students get is a sham. In 2005, a Pew survey of 14,000 college seniors found that most couldn’t do simple calculations like comparing credit card offers or follow the argument of a newspaper editorial. Only 31 percent were “proficient” in reading prose. If some vital public interest is served by giving degrees to kids who can scarcely read, I don’t know what it is.

And people wonder why America is falling behind in the world academically.

[yzerman19]

Good news: Dropout rate is high

And people wonder why America is falling behind in the world academically.

We let too many people into college who are not qualified or prepared.

To quote the great Judge Smails "the world needs ditch diggers too."

In all seriousness, too many treat college as a walk about or a way to dodge life for a few years...the entire economy is in shambles because we coddle people and tell them that they can have everything, but we don't tell them how much work it is or how smart or talented you have to be.

[Ranger]

Similar comparisons can be made to the millions that purchased homes using creative financing. They should have never been allowed in the door... for everyone's protection.

[yzerman19]

Similar comparisons can be made to the millions that purchased homes using creative financing. They should have never been allowed in the door... for everyone's protection.

Funny you say that...I had written a diatribe on the housing market, as a correlary to my previous post, but i deleted it before i posted it...

[ScottM]

I am firmly of the opinion that too many people enter four year colleges at 17-18 years of age utterly unprepared and unmotivated. I see it whenever I have to hire for our summer clerkship and internship programs. It's "the thing to do", because the parents think so, or your friends are going to college. I didn't start at UND until I was 23, and had finished a nearly six year hitch in the army. I got to campus and it was not a problem to do well in the classroom, work 15-20 hours a week, party and generally enjoy myself. I'm not sure I would recommend a tour in the military to everyone, but there's no reason so many kids have to be sold a bill of goods that they need to start college right after high school.

[Smoggy]

I am firmly of the opinion that too many people enter four year colleges at 17-18 years of age utterly unprepared and unmotivated. I see it whenever I have to hire for our summer clerkship and internship programs. It's "the thing to do", because the parents think so, or your friends are going to college. I didn't start at UND until I was 23, and had finished a nearly six year hitch in the army. I got to campus and it was not a problem to do well in the classroom, work 15-20 hours a week, party and generally enjoy myself. I'm not sure I would recommend a tour in the military to everyone, but there's no reason so many kids have to be sold a bill of goods that they need to start college right after high school.

With the economy it's tough to get into the military as many college degree people are joining. They are full and don't want high school kids. This is what I'm hearing from the Navy.

[The Sicatoka]

I am firmly of the opinion that too many people enter four year colleges at 17-18 years of age utterly unprepared and unmotivated.

Or worse, they view it as High School 2.0.

[tho0505]

Or worse, they view it as High School 2.0.

Welcome to UND

[The Sicatoka]

Welcome to UND

UND (54%) is right in line with the national average (57%).

High School 2.0, based on the numbers, seems to be in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area (NDSU 47%, MSU-M 40%).

[siouxjoy]

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the article, so I am not sure exactly how the statistics were presented. But, I do think it is worth pointing out that it is nearly impossible to track a student after they leave a campus. Quite a few students leave one school to pursue a degree at another school (it's closer to home, has smaller class sizes, etc). Sure, 46% of the people that start at UND don't attain a degree at UND, that doen't neccessarily mean that they don't attain any degree.

Having worked with college students, particularly freshman for many years, I do agree that there is a flaw in the system that states people must determine their career (and in some ways what they are going to do for the rest of their lives) at the age of 17-18. Research shows that the brain isn't completely developed at this age!

Not everyone is a good match for the expectations of college...not everyone is a good match for the expectations of a liberal arts college...not everyone is a good match for a large university...etc.

My .02