Spring Break
Dropout Nation
Alison MillerIssue date: 7/23/09 Section: News
"We need to make sure that schools are held accountable for graduation," Schneider said.
Bigger Picture
Morris Okum, a psychology professor at Arizona State University who has done research on retention and completion rates at ASU, has his own thoughts about this issue.
Okum said students and parents should be careful when looking at the results of this study since it did not take into account students who graduated after transferring to another institution.
Okum says that one out of every three students come to ASU with the intent to transfer.
From a school's point of view, "you do not want students to be leaving your institution," Okum said.
However, Okum doesn't consider it a negative if a student attends ASU, decides to transfer and then graduates from a different school.
"ASU could have been a very viable stepping stone toward their success," Okum said.
Okum said more research needs to be conducted that follows students who leave universities to find out what happens to them.
Not only should transfer rates be taken into account in this type of study, but also the many other factors that contribute to graduation rates at universities across the country, Okum said.
"Students are thinking about college in a different way than they did 20 years ago," Okum said.
Nowadays, students are a lot like consumers and integrate their school with other things that they have going on in their lives, Okum said.
Okum says students might have opportunities to work that would affect their school schedule or they may run into personal problems.
"Some students, particularly out-of-state students, don't feel like they made a good social life during their freshman year," Okum said.
Lost, Not Found
Justin Carson, a recent five-year graduate from ASU, ran into his own problems during his years at college.
Carson started out as a chemical engineering major at Penn State University and then transferred to ASU and changed his major to psychology.
Bigger Picture
Morris Okum, a psychology professor at Arizona State University who has done research on retention and completion rates at ASU, has his own thoughts about this issue.
Okum said students and parents should be careful when looking at the results of this study since it did not take into account students who graduated after transferring to another institution.
Okum says that one out of every three students come to ASU with the intent to transfer.
From a school's point of view, "you do not want students to be leaving your institution," Okum said.
However, Okum doesn't consider it a negative if a student attends ASU, decides to transfer and then graduates from a different school.
"ASU could have been a very viable stepping stone toward their success," Okum said.
Okum said more research needs to be conducted that follows students who leave universities to find out what happens to them.
Not only should transfer rates be taken into account in this type of study, but also the many other factors that contribute to graduation rates at universities across the country, Okum said.
"Students are thinking about college in a different way than they did 20 years ago," Okum said.
Nowadays, students are a lot like consumers and integrate their school with other things that they have going on in their lives, Okum said.
Okum says students might have opportunities to work that would affect their school schedule or they may run into personal problems.
"Some students, particularly out-of-state students, don't feel like they made a good social life during their freshman year," Okum said.
Lost, Not Found
Justin Carson, a recent five-year graduate from ASU, ran into his own problems during his years at college.
Carson started out as a chemical engineering major at Penn State University and then transferred to ASU and changed his major to psychology.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Doug Bryan
posted 7/10/09 @ 3:56 PM MST
Thank you for this study! My company helps parents save thousands on college. One of our secrets is properly preparing the student. Kids entering college with no idea what they want to do are bound to be there longer than 4 years. (Continued…)
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