With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them: Myths and Realities About Why So Many Students Fail to Finish College

More than 2.8 million students enroll in higher education each fall at two- and four-year institutions of all types and sizes. But of those students at two-year institutions, only 20 percent graduate within three years, and at four-year institutions, only 40 percent graduate within six years. Why are so many students failing to complete their degrees? A new report from Public Agenda and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them: Myths and Realities About Why So Many Students Fail to Finish College, investigates that question using survey data from more than 600 young people aged 22 to 30 who had completed at least some college coursework. The students’ answers contrasted sharply with some widely held beliefs about students who fail to complete college—that they fully understand the tradeoffs of not getting a degree, for instance, or that they drop out because they are bored or don’t want to study. In reality, the report found, students who fail to complete college are stymied by complex social and economic factors that students who graduate tend not to face in comparable numbers.  The report also offered students’ take on suggestions to improve graduation rates.  For students who did not graduate, 81 percent said that “allow[ing] part-time students to qualify for financial aid” would help them the most.

FINDINGS

Myth:  Most students attend college full time. If they leave college, it’s because they don’t want to do the work.

Reality: The primary reason that students leave college is that they are working to support themselves and/or their families while also attending school.

• More than half of students who dropped out cited problems balancing work and school as their main difficulty (54 percent).
• Sixty percent of those who failed to graduate said the statement “I had to work as well, and it was too stressful trying to do both” described them well; 48 percent of those who graduated said it did not describe them at all.
• Three-quarters (75 percent) of students who dropped out said that the need to work full time prevented them from going back to school.   

Myth: Most students are financially supported by their parents and also take advantage of scholarships and loans.

Reality: Students who fail to finish college are most often putting themselves through school without any assistance.

• About 70 percent of students who failed to finish college reported not having any scholarships or financial aid, compared with only 40 percent of students who graduated.
• Fifty-eight percent of students who did not graduate did not have any financial support from parents or family members.
• Of students who had no familial financial support, 62 percent chose their college based on its proximity to their work.

Myth:  Students who don’t graduate understand the value of a college degree and the consequences of not getting one.

Reality: Students who leave college often don’t fully recognize the impact that dropping out will have on their futures.

• Students who left college without graduating were more likely than students who did graduate to strongly agree with the statement, “I know many people who make a good living who do not have a college degree” (50 percent versus 40 percent).
• Students who failed to graduate were 16 percentage points less likely to agree that “I always knew I was going to continue in higher education” than students who did graduate (67 percent versus 83 percent).
• Only 43 percent of students who failed to graduate strongly agreed that their parents had instilled in them the importance of higher education, compared with 57 percent of students who did graduate.

The entire report may be downloaded as a PDF from the Public Agenda Web site.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Thirty percent of students who left college without a degree still had loans to repay, but none of the economic advantages that a college degree brings.
• Almost sixty percent of students who did not graduate chose their college because it offered a class schedule that was compatible with their work schedule.
• Seventy-eight percent of students who did not graduate indicated that more class availability on evenings and weekends would help them a lot.