A guide to college success
My life as a newspaperman started well before I landed my first job out of college. Try sixth grade.
That’s when I made up my mind that I wanted to be a journalist — and my focus never wavered. While my early attempts to become a sportswriter didn’t succeed, I eventually found my calling as a business and financial reporter and editor. Someone must have noticed me reading the Wall Street Journal one day and figured I had a future as a business writer.
For me, learning the tools of the trade meant a summer school typing class, landing positions as a sports writer for my middle school and high school newspapers, finding mentors to encourage me during those many painful learning lessons, snagging a couple of summer newspaper internships and, of course, the key step of attending college and earning a journalism degree. There was never a doubt about that last step.
I’ve always considered myself to be somewhat of a rare breed — knowing at an early age what I wanted to do with my life and taking the necessary steps to be happy and enjoy a modest amount of success. Both my mother and father attended college, as did my older sister.
However, that’s just not the way the education and career path works for many teens. Education experts have long studied the economic and financial barriers and outcomes that make a difference on those who attend and complete college and those who drop out.
The pandemic brought renewed focus on the issue, especially because of how heavily it impacted those without a college degree.
A new report released in mid-June by Sallie Mae and its Ipsos Research partner sheds new light on what factors help some succeed in college while others withdraw before earning their degree.
The “How America Completes College” report was based on interviews with nearly 1,100 young adults, ages 18 to 30, who have completed a 2- or 4-year degree, described in the report as the “completers” and so-called “non-completers” of the same age group who started on a degree path but withdrew before getting the diploma.
According to the report, the three top reasons for why students left college before graduating: 40% cited a loss of motivation, a change in focus or a life-changing event; 19% cited financial concerns; and 14% reported difficult mental health challenges partly brought on by the pandemic.
Digging deeper, the report found that about two-thirds of those who completed college were white, while 16% were Hispanic and 9% Black. On the flip side, 49% of non-completers were white, 28% were Hispanic and 14% Black.
When asked about their expectations of attending college, more than half of those who eventually earned a degree said they always expected to attend college, while the non-completers were less confident.
In addition, 40% of the college graduates reported having a plan to pay for college, nearly twice the number of those who veered off the path, the report said. Those who finished college also were more likely to have toured a campus while in high school and prepared for the SATs and ACTs.
What can be done to keep more students on the right path with their education?
Sallie Mae said nonprofit foundations, businesses and educators need to provide more mentoring opportunities, internships and other options “to help students explore and visualize careers.” As for the money piece, increasing the funding for federal Pell grants would help put more lower-income and first-generation college students on track for success.
I also think nonprofits could target more scholarship dollars to children from lower-income families, and with money being awarded earlier in students’ high school years, such as what’s done by the Kauffman Foundation’s KC Scholars program in my hometown of Kansas City.
If all these obstacles seem overwhelming, do the best you can to stay on track with your studies. One thing I learned back in the day was that progress comes from taking small but steady steps.