Public information reveals that college attendance costs are rising faster than the rate of inflation. But what is unknown to the general public are some of the reasons graduation rates at some institutions, over four to six years, hover at the low 40-55 percent marks.

Wrote Greg Ip in The Wall Street Journal: “A four-year college degree, seen for generations as a ticket to a better life, is no longer enough to guarantee a steadily rising paycheck. ” Therefore, payers of tuition and fees must fully realize what constitutes today’s college attendance. Attending college now is much different than it once was.

Why have some four-year degrees lost their luster? First, service industries require less education than a college degree but more than a high school diploma. Second, wrote Ip: “College educated workers are more plentiful, more commoditized, and more subject to the downsizing that used to affect primarily blue-collar workers.”

At the same time, applications for college admission are increasing in that a college degree is perceived to be the route to a good life. But therein lies part of the problem in that some college students know not what a degree means by way of initiative, hard work, perseverance, etc.

Let us return to the institutions with graduation rates around 40-55 percent. Where are the other students? They were either dismissed, discovered that higher education was not for them, poor grades, unpaid tuition and fees, or other reasons are apparent.

Here are seven reasons why some students are wasting time and money attending college:

1. Inappropriate majors. Declared teacher education majors in their junior and senior years at a Southeastern university have not passed a Praxis I examination (reading, writing math). This is a low-level test that could be passed by apt upper-level high school students.

2. Distractions. Distractions to academic work are constants. These include fraternity and sorority life, goofing off, courting, unexpected parenting, full- and part-time work, etc.

3. Faculty indifference. Students receive faculty advisement when course selections are reviewed. But faculty roles in surrogate parenting are almost taboo.

4. Lack of focus. Unfocused students switch majors ... sometime on whims. Various of these students know not what to do with their degrees when they graduate.

5. Not ready for college. High school graduates desire to attend college, but some are not prepared for the venture. South Carolina State University and Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College established an academic bridge program that permits high school graduates to begin their studies at OCtech and, after two years, transfer to South Carolina State.

6. Thwarted parental oversight. While parenting is looked upon as a lifetime activity, parents cannot get direct access to the college grades and records of an offspring ... unless the offspring grants them access. This is a federal law.

7. Lack of commitment. Some students do not purchase needed books, extended sleep hours hamper their class attendance, and out-of-class study time is hmmm.

Discussions about “change” now predominate in national politics. But serious change in behavior cannot come soon enough in some higher education venues to counter a perceived lack of attention to students and their wastefulness, resulting in more wasted time and money.

Reach T&D Columnist Howard D. Hill via www.educationconsultant@sc.rr.com

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