Drop-out rates raise concerns

Jorge Castillo

Although the goal for most higher education universities has been the elevated enrollment rate of new students, few consider the actual number of these students who graduate. According to MSNBC, in 1997 the average retention rate for college students was 54 percent. The students that dropped from college ended up worse than when graduating from high school since they received no degree but still had to pay for the time in college. By analizing the retention rate of college students, universities can better develop new strategies to help students integrate to college life and aid in their progress to obtain a degree.

According to Kati Haycock, director of The Education Trust, "an awful lot of institutions just assumed that getting [the students] in the door was the most important thing". Another important factor is that many institutions blame the responsability completely on the students, this being completely opposite in high schools. In such institutions, if there is a 54 percent retention rate, people are going to wonder what the problem is. Whereas in most colleges getting students enrolled is the main goal and graduating them seems to be not as important. Being unable to graduate is seen solely as the student's fault.

In Georgia Tech, 77.7 percent of the students who enrolled in 2007 actually graduated after six years in college. The ethnic group with the highest percent of retention rate were hispanics, with a total of 86 percent during 2007 and a surprising 100 percent for hispanic women in that same year. The ethnic group with the lowest retention rate were african americans with a total of 68.8 percent.

The agenda of the Department of Education is to continue doing more research and develop new ways to motivate college students to graduate. Even incentives for institutions that improve retention rates are being considered by certain legislatures. Ongoing research on why students drop from college may lead to new ways into getting students involved in campus life, encouraging them, and helping them graduate.