Help
Students Make the Right Educational Choices
Adrian H. Cline,
Superintendent
Many parents are currently focused on their children’s
efforts to get into college. There are
admission applications to complete, recommendation letters to request, and
financial aid statements to fill out—and there is a huge incentive to do a good
job. According to data from the U.S.
Census Bureau, in 1998 the value of a college education over a high school
diploma, in terms of lifetime earnings, was $710,520; for a professional
degree, the value was $1,557,570.
Despite these enticing figures, only 26 percent of the
What can parents and teachers do to minimize the 75 percent
dropout rate and help more students achieve their educational goals?
First, we can encourage students to be realistic and set
goals that match their abilities. Not
everyone needs a four-year degree. There
are plenty of other attractive educational opportunities to pursue after high
school, and these should be investigated.
Second, students need to be encouraged to focus on learning skills
rather than on grades alone. Many
students seek less demanding courses in high school that lack rigor but ensure
good grades. Then, when they are
confronted with increased difficulty and competition at the college level, they
are unable to meet the heightened demands.
Research has revealed that the most successful students are
those who take dual enrollment classes, and that the least successful are those
who need remedial classes. We can help
students achieve career success by guiding their decision-making and helping
them see themselves as embodying a unique set of abilities and needs. Often, students make decisions based on what
friends are doing rather than on what is best for them. In cases like this, dropping out of college
often seems to be the best solution.
One glaring but often overlooked reason for the dropout rate
is the financial problems that beginning college students often encounter. It is not so much that they do not have
sufficient money to start (financial aid is available), but that they lack the
skills and discipline to manage their financial resources. Many of them succumb to debt and are forced
to drop out to meet financial obligations.
Parents and teachers need to be role models and show students
how to responsibly manage finances. We
need to teach our students early that they might have to make choices and
tradeoffs to secure the education that is best for them. By helping them make decisions based on their
abilities and needs, we can lead them toward a more satisfying and successful
future.
The Office of Adrian H. Cline, Superintendent of Schools, is
open from