Paola Rodriguez
ENC 1102
It isn’t necessary to conduct studies and take polls to see how difficult the life of a college student can be in regards to finances and career opportunities. It appears that there is an increasing demand for college graduates to enter the workforce, and not enough coming out of colleges and universities. It has been made clear by numerous articles that the lack of financial aid and the rising cost of higher education is becoming too much of a burden for those in pursuit of a degree. Yet why are so many dropping out so short of earning their degree? It is my firm belief that the lack of guidance from professors and advisors, even the lack of passion found in the classrooms, is another deciding factor towards leaving a degree unfinished. True college graduation rates drop because students lose their motivation and follow a misled belief that a degree isn’t worth the amount of debt piling up from student loans. This is more a reflection on the quality of the education being given in institutions than the ability of students to pay their dues.
Although there is an undeniable decrease in graduation rates, many don’t realize that the statistics are flawed. For instance, Dr. Eduardo Padron, President of Miami Dade College, claims that the “current graduation rate is 39% for college-ready students and only 18% for underprepared students” without including the fact that this didn’t include those who transferred out before completing their degree. So is the majority of the college’s student-body really quitting or did they just look elsewhere for a more fulfilling education? In an attempt to correct what is obviously a result of the school’s negligence, Dr. Padron seems very intent on bringing in a new strategy to the school referred to as MDC3, a plan that no student seems to have heard about which directly affects them. The email sent out to faculty members informing them of this plan is evidence of the lack of quality of education that the college is offering. As mentioned before, the failure to inform the students about it in order to get their help and opinion is holding them back from providing the best experience and education possible at the college, as well as making students feel that they have no options because they only see the bad, and not the efforts being made to make everything better. Furthermore, the fact that Dr. Padron is encouraging faculty to be more creative in their classrooms emphasizes the lack of meaningful teaching provided in the schools, which is already not a surprise to Miami Dade College’s students.
It appears that this lack of passion and creativity in the classrooms is affecting the students all over the country, not just at Miami Dade College. Andrea Narvaez, a student at Miami Dade who recently came from Venezuela, confirms this issue when claiming that the environment at the school has a “get in and get out” feel to it. Andrea says, “I don’t spend any time being involved in the school and my professors usually seem just as eager as the students to get out of class. The environment in the school I went to in Venezuela was more inviting, yet stricter academically, but I was far more involved in the school activities.” If this is the environment that students are being brought into, why would any of them be motivated to continue their enrollment when faced with having to make that decision?
As a result of this low quality education coming from institutions, students who do graduate are often being thrown into the work force unprepared for the real world that they face. Lou Carlozo confirms this idea through the Harvard report, which claims that “Reasons for dropping out included: not being prepared for the rigors of academic work; inability to cope with the competing demands of study, family and jobs.” It is possible that seeing how many college graduates are unable to get into the work force, or even stay in it, might also be a bit incentive for students to leave school without a degree. Perhaps they see that having more experience in the real world rather than spending time confined within the walls of a school might be more beneficial when it comes to job opportunities. In response to this, professors and school advisors should help make it more clear to students that college is not “a bad investment” (Reuters) and that the debt now is far better than the loss of a job in the future.
Nevertheless, students such as those in Miami Dade College are not being informed or including in the reformation of school systems and education, even though these changes will directly affect them. Carlos Gonzalez, a current student of MDC, says “I haven’t heard anything about the so-called MDC3 plans, nor have I been asked for an opinion to help develop the plan as a student.” They are also unaware of the fact that, when looking at statistics, they still are not being shown the entire picture as they should. Most are unaware of the fact that “many two-year students are counted as failures” (Reno) as well as those who transfer out, take longer than five years to graduate, and even those who do not start out as full-time students. Various students are taking a year or two longer to complete their degrees because they can’t afford to take more than two classes at a time, or have too much on their plate such as jobs and families to take on more than that; these students are all being counted as failures. Lack of accurate information is yet another reason why students seem to think that there is no other way out than to drop out.
Of course there is still the issue of financial aid and the mounting debt coming from student loans. According to Carlozo, “A four-year private college education tripled in price between 1980 and 2010, the study finds, and student loan debt for a bachelor's degree now averages more than $23,000 per student borrower.” That’s almost as much as someone might make in a year. Taking that into perspective, it is clear that most students would rather save that money and put it into their future home or even a dream car; the idea of having to pay off that money for the next ten years might be too much commitment for them.
While it may be true that having a large amount of debt in order to get a higher degree is very unattractive to just about anyone living in the middle-class or lower, yet new studies have shown us that it is a much better investment to finish a college education now rather than not. John O’Connor claims that “The Lumina Foundation projects 59 percent of jobs will require a college degree by 2018,” meaning many will be laid-off, and all those who truly want to get ahead will just have to go back and finish their degree as they had originally planned. And while there are those few lucky ones, such as Fruzsina Eordogh who dropped out of Loyola University Chicago and has so far been able to get various jobs in journalism without having to show a diploma, those days are soon to change. It seems to me that whoever is considering dropping out now should think again, even if students such as Katrina Gilbert say “I’ve never known anyone who’s considered dropping out without the intention of coming back,” one can never see what might hold them back from returning.
Although a lot of the information shown in the articles is very open for doubt and corrections, the general idea is that students now are at risk for unemployment in the future if they don’t finish their degrees. A very recommendable plan of action that can avoid too much debt is to finish a two-year degree at a community college, such as Miami Dade College, and then go on to get a bachelor’s degree elsewhere, so that in the meantime the associate’s degree keeps you going in the workforce. Students need to be taught to manage their money better and make their class and school choices better so as to not have to face the overwhelming debt and the idea of dropping out of school. Hopefully Dr. Eduardo Padron will use his new plan, MDC3, to the best of its abilities and tell students about it so that it can actually succeed, at least in one institution.
It all comes down to the need for students to be truly informed about all their options, guided especially through the first tough two years in order to make smarter choices, enabling them to successfully get through college without the extreme financial stress and time-wasting with unnecessary classes or the wrong professors. It is extremely important for students to be part of a school that instill a sense of determination, passion, and the ability to get past financial struggles for a better future. If school’s find a way to bring this all into their environments, I believe that the issue of the demand for a degree in future jobs will be a much smaller problem, perhaps even nothing to worry about at all.
Works Cited
Gonzalez, Carlos. "College and Graduation Rates: Student Opinions." Personal interview. 22 May 2012.
Jamie P. Merisotis, et al. "Do College-Completion Rates Really Measure Quality?." Chronicle Of Higher Education 58.27 (2012): A16-A19. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 June 2012.
Narvaez, Andrea. "College and Graduation Rates: Student Opinions." Personal interview. 22 May 2012.
O'Connor, John. "Florida Not Producing Enough College Graduates To Meet Job Market Demand." StateImpact. Local Public Media and NPR, 28 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://stateimpact.npr.org/florida/2012/03/28/florida-not-producing-enough-college-graduates-to-meet-job-market-demand/>.
Padron, Eduardo. "To Make a Difference." 7 May 2012. E-mail.
"Why college students stop short of a degree." Reuters. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 27 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment