In my experience as a restart coordinator the biggest reason of student withdrawing before graduation is due to external forces ie childcare issues, working while in school, etc.
While it is easy as Admissions to "move on to the next class", I think we always have to keep touch with our students through collaboration with other staff. I think that it is very easy for students to lose vision. It's often easier to see the bumps in the roads and get hung up, versus seeing the carrot. Oftentimes I think students need to be reminded why they enrolled in the first place, and who better to "bring it back" than Admissions. While I don't discount that "life gets in the way", I think when you dig enough, you can find the true story, and then focus on true strategies to achieve graduation.
To the best of my knowledge, most students that leave the program during the initial semester of enrollment do so because of some major life event that makes the time commitment needed for a nursing program not feasible at that point in time. Many of those students do enroll again after that time has passed, but not all. Most of our students complete our program. Occasionally, someone will fail and choose not to continue, but this has been rare as staff and faculty work with the students to overcome issues before they result in student failure.
I believe that institutions need to be fully transparent about the requirements and demands expected of students, once they enroll, and must continually coach students during their studies to help them achieve success and ultimately meet their career goals.
I agree with you as to the part of the student not really knowing the "full picture". I hear many times each semester as students are struggling that nursing school was more difficult than they had thought and was taking more time than they thought it would. I'm not sure how we can really prepare them for the reality, I do believe everyone tries to explain the rigors of the program, but until a student has "lived" it, they don't see the reality.
Thanks Vickie
In my experience, I believe that a large number of students withdraw due to personal issues: financial (bills vs incoming revenue), child care, transportation, illness, or lack of vision of the big-picture, end result.
In my opinion students withdraw because of life situations that happen...Could be a death in the family, transportation issues, daycare etc...For some people it is alot harder to recover from these opsticles.
Family and personal issues arise. Some students get afraid that they can't succeed and don't want to have a big bill for nothing.
Several reasons: it was harder then they expected; doing it just for the financial aid stipend; lazy; got a "good enough" job; personal crisis; discouraged due to a bad grade; feel like they haven't been helped enough.
Sometimes life happens. Sometimes they are too lazy to honor their commitments.
Making the decision to go to school is a huge commitment. In my opinion most students drop out because they do not realize the dedication and amount of hours that go into school and they feel overwhelmed so rather than forging through and making the most of it they give up and leave.
My experience is students leave because they are unable to balance their life. They have a death in the family or they become overwhelmed with work/school/family etc. When I interview a prospect I tell them that it will not be easy. I want them to expect a difficult time and hopefully prepare for it.
I feel they withdraw b/c it was not really thought out and processed fully. The strain of going to school is mental and physical. If you are not prepared then you will have a hard time and this stress can get to some people. Hence they tend to drop out without a degree and further in debt than when they started to attend school.
I feel that they leave due to personal and family issues. Our students have a difficult time juggling so many things.
There are so many different reasons students withdraw from institutions in general:
* Not aware of class expectations- This can happen because the school did not clearly set expectations in the beginning.
* Or the student did not come forward in real time to ask for assistance with whatever issue is occurring at that time.
* Life happens to students and there coping skills may vary; therefore school gets put on the back burner.
* Some students are misinformed about occupational requirements. So when they actually participate in a program they discover that they are not really interested in the required duties.
There expectations are not met regarding what needs to occur to help them find employment
Students leave from different reasons. Some of them don't take education seriously; give up so easily and don't dedicate enough time for studying to successfully complete the program.
Mostly due to personal/family issues.
I believe moset students leave because they may feel as if they are not being given what was promised. In many instances, students are under the impression that they would graduate in a certain timeframe, and get discouraged when classes are not offered or they feel they are not being catered to. In other instances, they may feel they are not getting enough for their dollar.
I believe that students underestimate the amount of time and energy required to complete the program. As well, they lack strong personal support networks (childcare, family, encouragement) necessary to accomplish their goals. Time management, personal commitment, and academic preparation are also lacking.
