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Stephen Gerstner

Professor Reynolds

English 1201-519

1 November 2020

Who is to Blame for the College Drop Out Crisis?

November is a stressful month for high school seniors. Besides the normal hustle of

school life, sports, and other extracurricular activities, the largest thing on many seniors’

minds are college applications. Where should they apply to? What should they write their

essay on? When is the application due? Many high schools pressure students to continue their

education by going to colleges and universities. Fast forward a few months, and many of these

students will be rejected from the colleges that they applied to. If the student is accepted,

greater challenges lie ahead with student loan debt and difficult classes. For some of these

students, the stress becomes too great and they decide to drop out of college entirely. Is all

that stress worth it? Today more than forty percent of undergraduate college students decide

to drop out (Bustamante). Colleges across the nation are struggling to find out what they are

doing wrong and why so many college students are dropping out. However, it is not the

college’s fault, but rather it is the fault of all the high schools. High schools are contributing to

the alarming college drop out rate because they leave students unprepared for the academic

challenges of college. High school students are also unprepared for the money management skills

needed to be successful as a college student.

Early in the twentieth century, many high schools were having the same problems that

colleges are now having today. In the 1940s, there were as many high school dropouts as there
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are now college dropouts (Bustamante). High schools continue to pressure students more and

more to go to a college, despite some not being prepared to do so. Although there might be a

staggering number of college dropouts, the number of college graduates has significantly

increased over the past century and the college retention rates of students has gone up slowly

over the past decade (Henderson). Many college officials are still concerned about these high

numbers of dropouts and are looking for various solutions to solve this problem. As these

officials scramble to find solutions, the problem only grows.

One of the primary reasons that students decide to dropout of college is the staggering

cost of college. However, this is not the fault of the colleges. Most colleges are upfront about

their costs of tuition and clearly show their fees. While the high schools ignore this and

choose not to tell students about this information. Some students may not anticipate having so

much student loan debt and by their second or third year of college decide to dropout due to

the exponential growth of the costs. If high schools were to warn students about the financial

challenges of college, then the number of students going to college would drop and therefore

the number of students dropping out would also reduce. Also, high schools do not present the

many alternative options to college and often pressure student into going to straight into

college. “In my own case, I was a very poor student in high school (both in terms of grades

and in terms of economic status). Yet my high school counselor and multiple teachers urged

me to attend community college” (Henderson). If high schools would present more post-

graduation options to students, then the college dropout rates would decrease.

To add to this problem, many of these students lack the understanding of basic money

management skills. This leads to students spending for pleasure rather than saving for
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education. Most high schools do not teach these critical money management classes because

they are not required to do so, as shown in the figure below.

Fig. 1. This shows the states in the United States of America that require
high school students to take a personal finance course in order to graduate
(Next Gen Personal Finance).

There are only 5 states in the U.S that require high school students to take a personal finance

course in order to graduate. Students that take these classes have a much better chance of success

in college due to their understanding of how to spend and save their money. If high schools

taught these basic money management classes, more students would start saving for college

earlier and understand student loans better.

Another correlation that researchers found was if students received scholarships, they

were more likely to stay in college. In a research study at East Carolina University, researchers

discovered that scholarships play a major role in whether a student dropped out of college.

“Merit-based scholarships increased the probability of graduating by 18.4%” (Millea et al).

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These students did not feel as much economic pressure when it came to the cost of tuition

because they were receiving scholarships. Also, many students want to get their “money’s

worth” and will stick it out because they received these scholarships. The problem once again

lands on the high schools who do not show their students the scholarships that are available to

them. There are hundreds of scholarships that are awarded from institutions or companies that

are not the colleges themselves. However, high schools do not tell their students about these

scholarships and the opportunity is wasted. Poorer students are unprepared for the tuition cost of

college and they end up dropping out.

Another major reason that students decide to dropout of college is that they are

unsuccessful in the classroom. While some students may succeed in high school, the academic

demands of college present a whole new challenge. Many students find that they are

underprepared for college courses, “studies have shown that a whopping 60% of American

students are actually not ready for college courses” (CollegeStats.org). When theses students

start to fail in their classes, they lack the motivation to keep up or study harder and they end

up dropping out. As a result, “the overall retention rate for first-time, full-time degree-seeking

undergraduate students who enrolled in fall 2017 was 62%” (National Center for Education

Statistics). Many high school students are simply not challenged in their classes and do not

experience any adversity during their time in high school. These students then experience a

rude awakening when they take their first college class and struggle to perform well. These

students are much more likely to dropout during their first year of college due to poor

performance in the classroom.

The figure below demonstrates that the lower the student’s GPA is, the more likely

they are to drop out of college. Many high school students experience inflated GPAs because
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of having weighted classes. However, in college there are no weighted classes and students do

not have the same inflated GPA that they had previously.

Fig. 2. This bar graph shows the graduation rate of students based on their
first-year GPA in college (Tyson).

Many of these students who decide to dropout due to academic failure, may have no

experiences of any academic challenges in high school. Many high schools have begun to

over-inflate student’s GPAs in order to attract colleges but, leave students are unprepared for

the academic rigor of college. Jaleesa Bustamante pointed out that “As many as 25% of

students who take standardized tests for college readiness end up being directed to remedial

college courses.” These remedial courses are designed to help students who are struggling in

subject areas like math and English. If these high school students who are going to college
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struggle with basic English skills, how are they going to be successful in college? College is

more than just reciting from prior learning and students are asked to think outside of the box.

Many high school students do not understand this. For some students, college is a harsh

reality check after their high school held their hand for so long, which is why so many decide

to dropout.

Another major problem of high schools is the lack of substance abuse prevention,

either drug or alcohol. Whether it is education about substance abuse or the simple prevention

of it in the schools themselves, high schools’ ignorance contributes to problems for college

students who struggle with substance abuse. Many of these high school students continue their

bad habits with drugs and alcohol in college. “Substance use during high school predicted a

greater likelihood of never attending (for cigarettes, illegal drugs), of graduating from a 2-

year rather than a 4-year school (for cigarettes), and of dropping out versus graduating from a

4-year school (for cigarettes, marijuana, and other illegal drugs).” (Patrick, Megan E., et al, 1)

This leads to less time in class, getting into trouble with the law, possible expulsion, or the

student drops out. These students dropping out not only hurts those students, but the academic

institution and society. “Students who leave school without a degree suffer negative effects of

slimmer career prospects and lost time and money, institutions suffer from lower graduation

rates and lost tuition dollars, and society also bears the burdens of unemployed or

unemployable young people and a less educated workforce.” (Patrick, Megan E., et al, 2).

Once again, high schools are the ones to blame. High schools simply are not doing enough

when it comes to substance abuse prevention and this leads to students struggling in college.

In addition to the problems mentioned above, high schools forget to help students to

find the correct college major to choose. Often, college students will change their majors
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several times and may even dropout when they realize the major that they choose is not for

them.

Fig. 3. This image shows some statistics about students with undecided majors

going into college. (sunyjefferson.edu).

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High schools do not utilize programs to help students find what interests them. Sometimes

students have career days, but many of these happen in elementary school when students have

little to no understanding of what they truly want to do when they grow up. If high schools

would have career days, then students would be better suited to know which subjects they like

and what major/career best fits their interests.

Some might argue that the colleges are to blame for their high tuition prices and that

they are not providing enough money for the students through scholarships. The cost of

college tuition has been a major issue for several decades. Since 1978 the cost of college

tuition has increased by 1375% (Bustamante). This is not due to simple inflation. The rate of

inflation over this time frame has been at around 300%. For most students, this cost is out of

reach without any financial aid. In addition to the skyrocketing cost of college, many colleges

have no programs in place to prevent the enormous dropout rates. “An alarming number of

schools have no specific plan or goals in place to improve student retention and degree

completion. Colleges tend to put the blame on students, rather than on themselves”

(stateuniversity.com, 9). If colleges would own up to their mistakes and listen to the students,

the dropout rates would decrease.

Also, many people argue that colleges provide little support for students. They argue

that college counselors are not nearly as effective as high school counselors and have little to

no impact on a student’s life. Small changes in a student’s mood or behavior may not be

noticed and this could lead to feelings of loneliness or depression. Once again, causing the

students to decide to dropout.

Although these are some good points, the faults made by high schools are far worse

than the faults made by colleges. As mentioned earlier, high schools do little to prepare
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students for the financial challenge of college and do not warn students about the high cost of

tuition. Also, colleges should not need programs to prevent students from dropping out. The

high schools should make sure that only the students who are prepared are going to college in

the first place. If high schools better prepared their students and did not pressure the students

that were not ready for college, then the number of students dropping out of college would be

so low, that there would be no need for dropout prevention programs. Finally, there are many

activities for college students to become involved in. Usually, there are more activities in

colleges than there are in high schools. Although high school counselors are better than their

counterparts in college, college is supposed to help prepare students for the real world where

they will not have the same level of guidance in their lives.

During November, one of the most critical months in a high school senior’s life, they

are not considering what the cost of college might be and how to manage their money. They

are not thinking about the challenge that college course work presents. They are not imagining

themselves lacking motivation or not completing their degree. They are too worried about

getting accepted and not what they will do when they are at college. Therefore, many students

drop out of college. The lack of preparation whether it is economic, academic, or simply

mental preparation is why so many students are shocked when they attend college. The only

solution for some of these students is to simply dropout. Unfortunately for many of these high

school seniors, they will fall to the same fate of those before them. Until high schools change

to better prepare their students for college, colleges will struggle to figure out how to lower

the dropout rates.

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Works Cited

"Are Today’s Students Prepared to Make Financial Decisions?". Next Gen Personal Finance, 3

April 2018, https://www.ngpf.org/blog/question-of-the-day/question-of-the-day-what

-percent-of-us-high-school-students-are-required-to-take-a-personal-finance-course-to

-graduate/, Accessed 7 November 2020.

Bustamante, Jaleesa. “College Dropout Rate [2020]: by Year + Demographics.” EducationData,

6 Nov. 2019, educationdata.org/college-dropout-rates.

“Choosing Your Major.” SUNY Jefferson, sunyjefferson.edu/student-life/career-

services/choosing-your-major.php.

“College Drop Out Rates – Who’s to Blame?” StateUniversity.com, 27 Jan. 2008,

www.stateuniversity.com/blog/permalink/College-Drop-Out-Rates-Who-s-to-Blame-.html.
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Henderson, Rob. “The College Dropout Rate Is 45%-Should Everyone Still Go?” Psychology

Today, Sussex Publishers, 25 June 2020, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/after-

service/202006/the-college-dropout-rate-is-45-should-everyone-still-go.

Millea, Meghan, et al. “What matters in college student success? Determinants of college

retention and graduation rates.” Project Innovation (Alabama), 2018, eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=ee878a3b-9de0-4d00-9c90-

4953e35b3fbc%40sdc-v-sessmgr02.

Patrick, Megan E., et al. “High School Substance Use as a Predictor of College Attendance,

Completion, and Dropout: A National Multicohort Longitudinal Study” Sinclair

Community College Library, SAGE Publications, 14 Nov. 2013,

eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=1a315934-7f65-4ae5-8172-

b52c2dc5dcf2%40pdc-v-sessmgr06&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#AN=EJ1094713&db=eric.

Tyson, Charlie. “Graduation Rates by First-Year GPA.” Inside Higher ED, 10 Sept. 2014,

www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/09/10/maximize-graduation-rates-colleges-should-

focus-middle-range-students-research-shows.

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Education - Programs, Courses, and Completions - Undergraduate Retention and

Graduation Rates - Indicator April (2020), Apr. 2020,

nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_ctr.asp.
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Writers, Staff. “College Dropout Rates & Statistics: Why Do Students Dropout of College?”

RSS, 6 July 2020, collegestats.org/articles/beware-the-top-5-reasons-for-dropping-out-of-

college/.