The Problem with Dropping Out and Why Students Leave School Before Graduating

Abstract

There is currently a major cultural problem taking place across American society in regard to students dropping out of school. Millions of Americans drop out of high school and college each and every year. Millions never earn a high school diploma or college degree. This study looked at the reasons why students dropped out of school (N = 367). Some of the major reasons found were the need for money, disinterest in classes, family issues, poor grades, lack of support, pregnancy, and so forth. The study analyzed differences across various groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, age, and social class) in relation to dropping out, returning to school after dropping out, highest level of schooling achieved, and regretting dropping out. The study results demonstrated numerous connections between a number of key variables (e.g., social class and its association to dropping out), gender (e.g., women were more likely to regret dropping out and were more likely to return to school), and disinterest in classes (e.g., poor grades, absenteeism, suspensions, etc.). It was also found that most of the respondents dropped out of school for more than one reason and that the highest percentage of students dropped out at the community college level. The study brings forth additional data that can help educators and school administrators to better understand this larger cultural problem and what can potentially be done to help reduce these overall dropout rates that are currently afflicting the nation.