Only 56% of students seeking a bachelor’s degree earn one within six years! Only 29% earn an associate’s degree within three years. On average only 46% of students in the U.S. complete a college education, the worse standing among 18 industrialized countries.
Why?
One factor is certainly money. Not everyone can afford a college education today or the debt they would accrue if they borrowed for that education. Students who have family responsibilities can not afford to go to college or stay in college, either.
Another major factor in low college graduation figures is that more students are trying to go to college. They enter college because a college degree is the passport to getting a job. Forty years ago 72% of job holders had no college degree. That percentage has decreased today to 41%. In order to work at a decent-paying job, more and more people are forced to go to college. That would seem to boost college completion rates, but it does not. It simply means more students are in college who should not be there either because they are not prepared or they don’t want to be there really or they do not see the need to take certain courses they are not interested in. More students going to college, who shouldn’t be there but think they have to, creates more chance an entering student will not last in a college program.
What a waste of money, space, resources, and time!
What is the answer? Perhaps a strong post-secondary vocational program that incorporates a streamlined and focused program which includes on the job training and apprenticeships is the answer.
Are you sure college is for you?
