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Covid effect on college dropout rates

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Jalam Ford

4/12/22

Prof. Weaver

 

                                                                       

Covid’s Effect on College

 

            March 2020 was a very hard time for everyone, the world began shutting down in response to the quickly spreading virus Covid 19. At the end of November, when it was first brought up no one really thought too much of it until February 2020 when the death tolls began to climb. Stores began closing earlier, businesses started closing temporarily and schools switched to online with no option of being face-to-face. There were many students who stopped out or even dropped out, postponing their college education.

            Firstly, a leading reason to students holding off on their education was the rising college costs after covid effects settled in. Families had to make sacrifices to keep their financial stability and for a lot of households’, college was unfortunately one of those sacrifices. The students who went from high school after an entire year online in 2020 immediately went into another year of online schooling. Hechinger report shows “Out of the country’s 2.6 million students who started college in fall 2019, 26.1 percent, or roughly 679,000, didn’t come back the next year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. That was an increase of 2 percentage points over the previous year’s level, and the highest share of students not returning for their sophomore year since 2012.” Several students even lost parents and some even both due to covid with them being left without a way to pay for school. According to the article “College Dropout Rates” by Melanie Hanson, she mentions that nearly around 3 out of 10 freshman students in college have dropped out before their sophomore year, and 38% of college students have recently dropped out due to financial pressure.

            Secondly, Covid not only came with illness, but also some other unavoidable effects. Some student’s jobs were the reason why they were getting through school. Once covid hit, a lot of students lost their jobs because either the companies could no longer afford them, or they had to permanently close because of the new health complications. According to the Mckinsey article “after ten years of working to pay for school, LeKisha Finkley was preparing to graduate with an associate degree in spring 2020. She earned enough scholarship money to finish her last semester at Southwest Tennessee Community College. She walked the tightrope of bartending while getting a near 4.0 grade point average in her classes. Her plan was to go to Howard University to get her bachelor’s degree in psychology. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.” She lost her job and just as her classes switched to strictly online, she could no longer afford to pay for internet. That is only one of thousands of situations that occurred to college students.

            Then, very many students were left not knowing which direction to go in. Very many students were feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and stressed because of these new changes. Online schooling being the only option for students and teachers had most in disarray. The communication wasn’t great. Often there was always at least 2 students with connection issues so if they couldn’t get it fixed, they couldn’t do too much about the issue and it’s not like anyone could help them fix the issue because everyone was on their own. Since online classes were on a tight schedule sometimes students couldn’t get their questions answered because there were so many other students per class. A lot of students also dropped out because of having to work as well as school, so once they left work, they had the stress of having to get classwork done afterwards. The pressure became too much, and a lot of students postponed their college education and others indefinitely.

           

Work cited

Martinez, J. (2021, December 13). College dropout rates increase during COVID-19. The Telescope. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.palomar.edu/telescope/2021/12/13/college-dropout-rates-increase-during-covid-19/

Cheng, Wan-Lae, et al. “Covid-19 Crisis Pushes Us Students into an Uncertain Job Market.” McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 7 Jan. 2022, https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/future-of-america/covid-19-crisis-pushes-us-students-into-an-uncertain-job-market.

Dickler, Jessica. “25% of Students Postponed College during Covid, Some Indefinitely.” CNBC, 16 Apr. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/04/16/college-enrollment-sank-due-to-the-covid-pandemic.html.

Krupnick, Matt. “More Students Are Dropping out of College during Covid — and It Could Get Worse.” The Hechinger Report, 10 Feb. 2022, hechingerreport.org/more-students-are-dropping-out-of-college-during-covid-and-it-could-get-worse/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hawai’i Pacific College: Research Project

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Jalam Ford

3/16/22

Dr. Weaver

 

Hawai’i Pacific College: Research Project

Summary

            Hawai’i Pacific University was founded in 1965 by Loo, Eureka Forbes, Elizabeth W. Kellerman, and Reverend Edmond Walker. They wanted to create a private liberal arts college in Honolulu, Hawaii. The professors At Hawai’i Pacific University that a student would learn from are at the top of their field but also industry knowledge to receive the best education possible. The professors are also well equipped to teach online and in face-to-face environments. HPU is a private University where you won’t receive the same education experience anywhere else with hands-on learning. The education is affordable for all Hawaii students and HPU has a diverse, committed faculty meaning the students will be learning with top priority and learning from the very best. This website uses the APATSARC strategy purpose in the attempt to inform students what all they will be experiencing if they choose to attend HPU. Lastly, Hawai’i Pacific University works to improve its education strategies to best fit its students’ needs.

Analysis

            Hawai’i Pacific University’s website expresses their confidence in how well any attendees will fit in and the learning opportunities that their students will be exposed to. The website has a large range of different fields of study with four tabs regarding the undergraduate, graduate, military, and online-only routes of study.

            HPU receives 7 million dollars in grants for STEM education, student aid, and campus upgrades. Hawai’i prides itself in providing only the best for its faculty and students. “Receiving these grants will provide significant support for our students, staff, and faculty at HPU,” said HPU Senior Vice President Jennifer Walsh, Ph.D. “Nearly every facet of our university will receive an upgrade or enhancement. From our Makapuʻu campus to Waterfront Plaza, to the anchor of our campus at Aloha Tower Marketplace. It is a wonderful time to be at HPU.” 

HPU is ranked the most diverse university in the United States. This section of the website uses the rhetorical style logos stating that “The university reached the top spot out of 100 ranked schools, making HPU “the most evenly divided demographic composition of an accredited school with over 1000 students”. HPU is home to over 4,500 students from all 50 United States, U.S. territories, and nearly 65 countries.

Hawai’i Pacific University hopes to launch a global tech program so that its’ students will have the opportunity to work with peers from around the world and learn employer-demanded skills to help improve their career outcomes through applied case studies and projects from companies. This is HPU’s way of assisting their students to have the best chance of getting a better, higher-paying job. The Podium Education currently works with 40 universities across the US bringing a new perspective of learning for all participants.

Next, the university understands that moving far away from home to attend a university that for most students is not at all close, they encourage the transition because there will be many activities and events when you arrive on campus. There are many first-year programs for the students who are trying to find where they fit in. The first years are assigned a Peer Mentor and what the university calls a Hanai volunteer, which is “staff and faculty volunteers who serve as an “auntie or uncle” and support a group of new students. The Hānai volunteers help bridge the divide students often feel when engaging with professionals by making faculty and staff more accessible in a casual setting. Like the PMs, the Hānai volunteer can also help new students navigate the university.” So, first-years are very cared for and engaged with so no new students feel left out. The campus encourages students to get involved right from the start and continuing to seek out opportunities to learn and engage will help make lasting friendships, perform well in their classes, and develop skill sets that will help them succeed in the further years to come.

Hawai’i Pacific University’s Career Development Center provides the necessary resources to be highly competitive in the transition from college to career. The university also offers a student-to-professional pathway. The HPU recognizes that the workplace is forever changing, and they want their students to be prepared for anything that they may experience after leaving the university.

Response

 

              During this research project, I realized that Hawai’i Pacific is a good option to consider after graduation from Georgia State University Perimeter College. HPU cares a lot about its students and faculty as they’re constantly upgrading their campus and giving them opportunities to come into college well equipped to be successful throughout their time on campus. There are many opportunities for the students to have extra help. Nowadays the world makes it seem that college is mandatory to succeed in the world but doesn’t give too much help to assist in a good job afterward. HPU helps with every student’s financial situation making it more affordable. 

                 There are many opportunities for the first years to get better acquainted with their new space and find new friends to maximize the best college experience. I personally don’t know if I would fully commit to a school so far from home, but it most definitely sounds like a safe option with thoroughly reading the website. Out-of-state colleges are already harder to pay for and since the funds are still paid for by my parents, I’m not entirely sure if she’d be comfortable paying for a college out of state. From the knowledge, I have now I’d recommend this college to a high schooler looking for college options.

Academic Profile

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        When I ask my partner Stephanie how she would describe herself academically she says that she is I described myself as a procrastinator a perfectionist and also a try-hard. I can also be a procrastinator myself depending on how much time that I am given to complete a task. Stephanie decided to go to college because she would be bored doing just simply working and nothing more and her parents motivated her to go as well so that’s just what she did.

         Stephanie landed at GSU because it is very close to her home and is a lot less expensive than another 4-year college out of state. She also decided to go to college last minute and the opportunity was there so she applied to Georgia State just in time for the Fall semester. This will be her second semester at GSU. Stephanie ended up choosing music as he major and then thinking of going into music technology, music is her passion and the only reason she has been sticking to go to college because she enjoys what she learn in her classes. Her biggest insecurity when it comes to school is having to meet the expectation of her parents have or even the expectations that she has for myself because she put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best that she can.

         Stephanie also fears that she isn’t good enough to make it as music producer or whatever musical career she wants to go into. Her favorite subject has always been math or biology, Stephanie wanted to become a forensic scientist because of how much she loved biology but decided to go towards another path. Stephanie isn’t too sure what her career goals are but she knows for sure that music must be involved. She looks up to her dad because even though he didn’t go to college he still works very hard and makes sure that we have everything we need/want so she wants to be able to do that for her family in the future. Also the fact that he is working on what he loves not just a boring job. So it reminds her that she can make a career out of something that she will enjoy doing. Stephanie’s friends and family both support her endlessly  to continue to stay in school and to not drop out even though she has thought about it multiple times. 

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