I have noticed at my facility that over the past few years, the attitude of students coming directly from the local High School system seems to have deteriorated. Where students just a few years ago were trying their best to learn the material in order to prepare for their career, today it seems there is a pervasive attitude of just getting by. Of course, lowered effort will often produce a lower result and often the students attempt to skate by, leaves them in the untenable position of insufficient attendance, failing GPA, and lowered self esteem hidden behind aloofness. It eventually gets to the point that the young student says "who cares?" and then withdraws from the program to save the remaining tuition. As would be expected, more mature students and those students who are going back to school after a while in the workforce, or who are currently working full time while trying school part time, tend to take their time here more seriously and try to get the most out of it. They are more engaged and tend to ask more questions, and most importantly, tend to take responsibilty for their actions and their education. Is it possible to really change a student's existing, in-grained attitude toward education so as to retain them? As a career college, enrolment is optional, so what we've been seeing is very counter intuitive.