Factors associated with student withdrawal from community college

Community College Enterprise, The, Spring 2006 by Scoggin, Donna, Styron, Ronald A

Final results of the study shown in Table 13 reveal that reasons for withdrawal had a minimal degree of variance by age. The leading reasons for withdrawal in each age category were personal reasons, followed by financial and work issues. As the students reached age 40 and above, a different reason for withdrawal-health-was identified with the fourth highest frequency. The provisions recommended for health promotion and wellness enhancement would be especially applicable to this age group.

Recommendations for policy and practice

When considering factors associated with student withdrawal and contemplating what should be done to improve retention, administrators should not implement efforts to accomplish higher retention rates for the sole purpose of institutional benefits. More importantly, they should focus on helping students remain in college in order to reach their educational goals. Administrators need to set the benchmark for being customer friendly and make a sincere effort to determine what the students of the college want and need. Administrators and faculty should remember that while it is important to assist all students toward their educational goals, there are certain populations that require additional consideration, especially early in the educational process. Personal reasons, as a leading cause of student withdrawal, encompass numerous factors, including the student's lack of feeling college involvement or commitment to the educational endeavors. Administrators have the challenge of meeting needs for student involvement in the college environment so that students become more aware of their opportunities at the college, develop a sense of commitment for attending college, and, most importantly, do not wish to leave. These objectives can best be accomplished through the student services division where various student activities can be planned on a monthly basis, with special populations highlighted and special events designed to meet their inclusion needs. Communication of the activities should be expanded, perhaps using student e-mail and faculty announcements in classes about upcoming events that would be of special value to the students.

Conclusions

Not only should efforts for retention involve an active process by the college, but retention activities should also involve holding the students accountable for their attendance at school. Not attending classes for personal or other reasons can seriously interfere with learning and could lead to a reduction in the desire to remain in school. Administrators who set up a process to inform students of their absences can also address the potential result of their missing classes. At the same time, instructors have a valuable opportunity to explore with students the things occurring in their lives that could result in multiple absences which might in turn lead to withdrawal from college.

College administrators should instruct faculty on the importance of early recognition of problems that deter students from remaining in college. Students should be provided with an academic advisor who works one-on-one helping them to identify educational goals. In addition, advisors and instructors should encourage students to communicate problems early so that steps can be taken to avoid withdrawal. Finally, since the cause most cited for student withdrawal is personal reasons, additional study should be conducted to ascertain a more precise understanding of what those personal reasons may be.