College life is one of the most exciting times in one’s life. With new learnings and gaining mastery over the subject area, a student gets to enjoy these couple of years while making new friends and getting great exposure to how the world works. Having said that, college life is on the mind of every youngster and they are thrilled to experience the infrastructure, teaching, freedom and fun. Regardless of the importance of college education, it is surprising to learn that about 60% of students drop from college every year. This number is huge considering that a degree is very important for a student to get employed in any organization. 

The infographic below depicts the huge number of college dropout students from distance learning programmes.

Let Us Discuss The Reasons For The Dropout Of Students

1. Higher Education Fee

In India, higher education is no joke. If one fails to get admission to government colleges or universities, private institutions are the only options left. Private Institutions charge as per the facilities that they offer and they charge for them exorbitantly. This is one of the main reasons for dropout of students.

It is also very important to note that there are hardly any part-time work opportunities for Indian students in the country. Our system is such that either a student must take a full-time job ignoring college or entirely focus on college while arranging loans and paying them off through menial jobs.

2. Unsatisfactory Learning Experience

Teaching is one of the noblest professions in the world. As a teacher or professor, one is preparing the current generations to face future challenges. However, with the advent of the internet and personal computing, information is a single click away and students can get access to the easiest of processes on any academic topic in no time. It has so often been noticed that due to this evolution, students self-prepare themselves in their areas of interest and sometimes know more than their teachers do.

In this case, a student begins to feel that colleges or universities are unable to add value to what they know. Hence, students begin to feel that dropping out and self-preparation is the best way to move forward. Especially, in the field of Information Technology, skills matter more than the degree. In fact, some skills are so important that they can be learned in a short duration and help you build a successful career. Companies have already started hiring basis on the test score they conduct rather than having a look at their degrees and colleges they studied from.

3. Lack Of Self-Discipline

At the core of every human’s progress is self-discipline. A well-disciplined routine can help you win at anything in life. Building discipline takes months of practice, while students these days have a very short attention span and deviate they from following college routines. To be able to comprehend the curriculum, students are expected to attend orientation programmes, labs, classes, study at home, write their own assignments, and not procrastinate on important things. But, due to a lack of discipline, they’re unable to do assignments & exam preparation, and ultimately it becomes a reason for students’ dropout.

4. Subjective Reasons

Life is not a bed of roses and it doesn’t treat every person the same way. Circumstances and experiences are bound to appear and vary from person to person. Many students may go through adverse situations in life and have to dropout for those reasons. Such reasons could include family financial conditions, mental health, physical health, and family obligations. These reasons go unaccounted for and do not have a solution unless possible through quality counseling.

It is thus very important to note that such students must be shown a lot of empathy and backed to restart their studies in their professional careers ahead.

5. Lack of Preparation

Preparation is very important before undertaking any course. Students are required to prepare themselves for the tough academic demands. In this era of rising competition, students are required to work harder and impose a lot of restrictions on them. The students are required to smartly bifurcate their time and understand what they need to achieve through their pursuits. However, if students do not smartly plan and focus on achieving their goals they may eventually drop their courses due to a lack of preparation and backend knowledge.

How Can Student Dropouts Be Avoided?

“One out of every eight students enrolled in a school or college drops out before completing their education, and over 62 percent of all dropouts occur at the school level.” as reported by National Statistical Office.

While there are subjective reasons why students drop out in large numbers, students must understand that self-discipline and doing a SWOT analysis before choosing any course are some of the primary ways following which they can succeed immensely in their careers.

Dropping out can be detrimental to one’s career and confidence and it is important to decipher that starting over is never an easy process. It is hence strongly recommended that students wisely choose a course in the first place, do research on what’s expected out of them and lead an academic life of self-discipline from thereon.

Female vs Male Percentage of College Dropouts