Lots of college students drop out. There are degrees of success in preventing it. – The Washington Post
I once worked with a young woman who was smart, kind and industrious. Her success seemed assured, except for one thing. She had to drop out of college and could not afford to get back in.
Many people have problems like that. In a remarkable new book on what hinders college completion, University of California at Berkeley higher education expert David Kirp reveals there are 34 million Americans older than 25 who have some college credits but dropped out before receiving a diploma.
That’s more than 10 percent of the population. Many are worse off than they would have been if they hadn’t enrolled. “Dropouts are nearly twice as likely to be unemployed as college grads,” Kirp said, “and they are four times more likely to default on student loans, which wrecks their credit and shrinks their career options.”
Not all of us need college. Some abandon higher education for sensible reasons, including lack of interest in what they are studying. Even the best-run colleges cannot prevent withdrawals caused by illness or injury.
But for those who want to stay in college, Kirp’s book, “The College Dropout Scandal,” identifies some places where dropout rates are being reduced. Some campuses have discovered that if they provide frequent and pertinent advice and support — particularly to freshmen — and show them how to overcome their doubts and weaknesses, it makes a difference.