College Dropouts In America

In the 1940’s people had close to the same chances of being a high school graduate as today’s people have of being a college graduate. In 1910, thirteen and a half percent of adults in America had graduated from high school. Forty years later, that percent had risen by 21 percent. In the same way, in the year of 1975 just under fourteen percent of adults in America had a bachelor’s degree. Thirty-eight year after this that number had grown 18 percent (Aldeman). Out of all the number that were looked at during this research it was clear that college dropouts are a bigger problem in today’s society than high school dropouts. In America, today there are just over twenty-nine million college dropouts compared to twenty-four and a half million high
College attendance rates have increased immensely from forty nine percent in 1972, to sixty-nine percent in 2005 (Rath). It is true that the college attendance rate is up but students are entering college and they don’t have the necessary knowledge to succeed in college. Per the article “The Dropout Rate of Community Colleges is Problematic,” weak curriculum and unclear standards are two major causes that make students not able to perform in the college atmosphere. One set of standards that are causing a major problem is the common core standards. These strict standards were put into place with the presumption that they would better prepare students for furthering their education. Despite adopting these standards schools are still unable to ensure that students are getting the education needed to complete their education after high
It all goes back to not being properly prepared for the college experience. Since the high school education system is so lackadaisical, it has taught students complacency in their education. Students found in high school that they didn’t have to do much work and they could get decent grades. Once a student moves to further their education the student is expected to have his/her work done on time without the teacher having to tell them every class period. While in college a student cannot become complacent in his/her work. If they happen to become complacent then they get behind and instead of going to the professor and seeing if they can make it up the student just drops out to make it easier on his self/herself. In conclusion, what causes college students to drop out of school? Well there are many reasons, whether it be a lack of proper education, or a lack of finances, or non-school obligations. identifying the problems that face students today is the first step to be able to help the further their education and succeed in whatever they