When college students want to quit, it is most likely due to mental strain and stress.
That’s according to recent data fromCurrent status of higher education research” was conducted by the analytics firm Gallup and the private foundation Lumina.
For the study, researchers interviewed 6,015 enrolled students, 5,012 former enrolled students who had never completed a program, and 3,005 adults who had never enrolled in higher education. This particular study is part of a larger effort to understand Americans’ attitudes toward college, dating back to the pandemic and as more and more people question whether the soaring cost of college is really worth it. be.
What’s the most important lesson so far? According to one of the researchers, concerns about mental health and well-being are surprisingly pressing for college admissions and participation.
Of the students surveyed in this latest study, 35% were considering “dropping out,” or quitting their studies. However, despite slight increases in college enrollment for black and Hispanic students, the latest research documents that these students still consider dropping out of college at higher rates. Masu. In the survey, 42% of Hispanic students said they had considered dropping out of school, compared to 40% of black students and 31% of white students.
These numbers have remained relatively consistent over the past few years. But the reasons why students leave are changing.
According to the report, students are now considering quitting their post-secondary studies primarily due to emotional stress, mental health and cost. And mental health and stress are at the top. The number of students wanting to leave university due to mental health or health conditions is increasing, with 54 per cent of all students citing mental stress and 43 per cent citing personal mental health as a reason for leaving university.
Not shocking, but disappointing.
Stephanie Marken, senior partner in education research at Gallup, said this number has risen during the pandemic, and researchers believe this is a pandemic-related phenomenon that could be linked to the emotional stress students are feeling. The hope was that the number would drop to pre-pandemic standards. Split. However, it remained at an all-time high even after that. “I think this really represents a new normal,” Marken said.
An optimistic reading of these findings would be that students simply feel more comfortable sharing their struggles with researchers, and therefore researchers are aware of higher levels of tension. Marken says. But there are other concerns as well. Marken points out that inflation forces people to work more and causes more financial stress. Financial issues can also manifest as stress and worry, making it much more difficult to attend classes, she added. Students today are also more likely to have responsibilities that compete with school, such as caregiving, than students 10 to 20 years ago, Marken said.
Either way, at least one researcher worries this could mean more students enrolling in college but leaving without completing a degree.
Marken said students who start college but don’t complete it are worse off than those who don’t start in the first place. They don’t think that getting a certificate or degree will increase their salary. They may have taken out loans to attend school and may have missed time at work. They’re also more likely to have trouble paying their bills, Marken said.
If the problem is not resolved, there will be a significant loss of economic opportunity for the country, she says.After all, even if costs balloon, lifetime income is quite large For students completing their studies with a degree.
law of attraction
Retaining students has become important for universities as well. As the number of traditional college students dwindles, some schools are starting to wonder whether they can even keep their doors open. This trend is especially noticeable in rural schools. With enrollment declining, schools may want to prevent enrolled students from dropping out.
Marken argues that understanding why people leave is important to maintaining enrollment. By examining “stopouts,” Gallup researchers are trying to understand whether colleges will continue to lose more students and whether the population of “some colleges without degrees” will continue to grow. there was.
Based on this study, Marken thinks so.
What about solutions? Marken said much of the funding spent by agencies is focused on providing assistance in moments of crisis. It is important, however, that less money is spent ‘upstream’ and it helps students understand how they can be more resilient within university, which is an inevitably complex time in their lives.
Marken said it’s critical that students have resources to build resiliency so they can bounce back from the challenges they experience in everyday life so they don’t drop out of the program prematurely. In other words, helping students feel connected to their community, building networks and finding their niche can help reduce feelings of isolation. For example, we provide networking opportunities and personalized extracurricular activities for students.
She says directing funds there could help tackle the problem more proactively.
But in the meantime, the trend is disturbing.
“I am very concerned about the growing number of people in the United States who do not have a college degree,” Marken concluded, adding that “so many learners who have temporarily dropped out… “I think it’s an indictment of the post-secondary education system,” he added. ”