Causes Of Challenges To Student Success Essay

Challenges to Student Success Starting college is a big step in each student’s life. All students face challenges when going to college, and not all of them succeed. Reference 1 (year) cites a report from the National Center for Education Statistics which states that only 56% of students who begin college in the next year will receive a degree within six years. That rate is even lower for African Americans (39%) and Hispanics (49%). Students who are over 24, self-supporting, working full time, and who are raising families are nontraditional students. Each of those factors make it more difficult for a non-traditional student to complete their college courses (reference two, year). Even students who are enrolled after high school,

Many nontraditional students work full time and have families to support; they see themselves as employees first, and students second (reference 2, year). Reference 2 (year) has found that though nontraditional students were less skilled with computers, they were more likely to use computers to complete their work, and more likely to take online courses. Reference 2 (year) states “While reduced computer skills and efficacy may have created significant challenges for nontraditional students, they appear to embrace technology and compensate for limited skills with extra time and effort.” This attitudes towards computer technology seems to help the students cope with extensive demands on time and energy; though non-traditional students are more likely to drop face-to-face courses, the drop rate in online courses lowers to equal that of traditional students (reference 2, year).
Underachievers
In college, an underachiever is someone who does not perform up to expectations. They may have scored well on standardized tests, and gotten good grades in high school, but they are not matching those expectations in college. Reference 3 (year) interviewed students who entered college with a high GPA (3.0 or higher) from highschoolhigh school