To graduate or not to graduate
College is that thing you do right after high school, sometimes later, or not at all. In some instances, college is started, but never finished.
In their paper “Is that paper really due today?” Peter J. Collier and David L. Morgan wrote, “Success in College is not simply a matter of students demonstrating academic ability… students must master the ‘college student’ role, if they ever plan to be successful.”
For Tereza Thomas, a sophomore and an international student from Slovakia majoring in hospitality management, dropping out after an associate degree seemed ideal, at least for a while.
“The furthest I’d go is probably my bachelor’s,” Thomas said. “I just want to take it slower after this semester.”
Marielle Adair, a freshman, has also thought about dropping out but decided school was more important. Adair is working two jobs and taking three credits at UVU.
“I took two semesters off,” Adair said. “[Most students drop out] because they have no interest in school. The only reason, for some of them, to go into school is their parents.”
Whether or not this is the reason for most dropouts, according to a study by the Education Trust in 2004, after their first year of college, 25 percent of freshman students drop out altogether or change schools to find an “easier” college.
According to the website duck9.com, 38 percent of dropouts leave because of financial pressure.
Claudine Kuradusenge, an international senior majoring in public relations, has remained for her bachelor’s degree.
“It is expensive,” Kuradusenge said. “You just finish school or just don’t go.”
She hasn’t thought about dropping out.
“School is not for everybody,” Kuradusenge said. “Some jobs don’t really need degrees. If you have a passion, then a degree would be nice. It’s a backup, but if you have a passion then why do you even need a backup?”
Kuradusenge believes the rate of students dropping out at UVU has increased.
“The academy is not that good,” Kuradusenge said. “And they changed the age for the [Mormon] mission so they can go younger than before, and some of them just go.”
Chase Nunley, a former student, believes the dropout rate has decreased.
“Now there’s better teaching and better facilities,” Nunley said.
Nunley decided to take a break from school and finish off his associate degree at Salt Lake Community College. He’s confident he will go back to school, but not so confident for his friend who dropped out permanently.
“He’s just lazy,” Nunley said. “[He] has no motivation.”
According to the College and University blog, the top seven reasons for college dropouts are:
1. The low expectation of academic demand
2. Life situations and other outside demands
3. The party animal
4. Broken relationships
5. Homesickness
6. Job force
7. No individual attention or guidance