Sunday, September 12, 2010

The College Dropout

"Area colleges offer GPA-forgiveness programs to lure back dropouts"

The Story:  Camden County College is one of many two- and four-year schools in the region welcoming dropouts back to campus. Others are reaching out to students who either left two or three years ago or were dismissed because of failing grades, including Community College of Philadelphia, Bucks County Community College, Rutgers University, and Rowan University.


The amnesty policies are enjoying new attention amid a national push to persuade former students to come back to complete degrees. Students who dropped out at least two years ago may resume classes without the worry that their poor past performance will blemish their degrees. Students who had "difficulty adapting to college" due to excessive partying or some other problem when they were 18 may have matured and may be ready to succeed, Jim Newell said.

President Obama's American Graduation Initiative aims to boost higher-education attendance and graduation rates, while Mayor Nutter is supporting an initiative focused on bringing back students who were halfway or more toward obtaining their degree when they left. 

The Analysis:  More schools should do the same.  I'm shocked at the number of students who fail to finish college, especially those who are so close to finishing.  Let's throw out the obvious reasons (pregnancy, family circumstances, money, employment), I wonder how many folks choose not to return because of embarrassment or perception?  Some 18/19 year old students are not ready for college initially and that's ok, but I think the older one gets, the more mature and focus they become.  Furthermore, plenty of individuals who do not have stellar undergraduate careers, are being admitted and or earning degrees from graduate school.  I don't think my philosophy will ever change:  it doesn't matter how long it take you to finish, as long as you graduate.  Look at Troy Aikman, former Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame QB, it only took him 21 years to graduate from UCLA.

Kanye West was so inspired he entitled one of his earlier CD's The College Dropout.  So many favorite records off this CD, but I'm going to go with "Spaceship."  I redid that "Through the Wire" track back in my rhyming days.

1 comment:

  1. That would b a nice thing for other colleges to do, I think it's awesome that they are willing to give drop outs another chance with a clean slate! But now, how many drop outs kno about this?

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