Have you ever stopped to think what your college/university is currently doing to not only encourage people to pursue studies but encourage their students to maintain and persevere through their studies once they’re in? Have you ever considered your institution’s dropout rate? Many students do not finish their degree for a number of reasons. Reasons like insufficient funds, resources, motivation, incentives, and so on. Sure it is important for a university to have thousands of people apply every year for a chance to be admitted into their programs but even more important is for those people to be able to complete their degrees. Who else but former students can continue contributing to a universities’ prestige and reputation? Both University of Washington (UW) and Washington State University (WSU) are doing just that, specifically with their athletes. According to a data collected by the NCAA, UW athletes have an 89% graduation rate. Students tend to pursue sports in college to earn a scholarship so that they may be able to pursue a degree, such is the case for most minority students. This includes black, Hispanic, and women students. NCAA data on student-athlete graduation rates shows that women’s sports have a 90% graduation rate with the exception of bowling. Through the past decade black male and female students have increased their graduation rates by 24% and 15% respectively while Hispanic athletes have gone up by 21% overall. WSU doesn’t stay behind either achieving an athlete graduation rate of 81%. How is it that these two institutions operate to achieve these results? Simply put they encourage their athletes to do their best both on the field and in their classrooms. UW encourages their athletes to work hard on their courses as they help them along through any struggles they may have. UW offers tutoring, academic and career advising, psychological counseling and closely monitor their progress throughout their degree. By extending a hand, UW has successfully incremented their athlete’s graduation rates for the past decade. But why stop there? Earning a degree is both a challenge and a difficult tasks altogether, while the resources may be their some students lack the proper guide not only to use them but to have access to them. It’s true that both UW and WSU have done a good deed towards their athletes, but what about the rest of the students? Surely the same as well as different services are being offered to their students to help and guide them through their journey towards earning their degree. What about your college? Are you aware of any incentive or service your college currently provides their students to help them earn their degree? Do you have a different idea or approach that your college can take towards achieving this goal? How would you help or encourage your fellow student to earn their degree?
Get to know more: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/help-all-students-have-high-graduation-rates-like-uw-wsu-athletes/
When I first attended college, as a first-generation college student, I often felt as thought I did not quite "fit in" that somehow I did not belong in college. The best things for me to overcome this were the encouragement and support I received from specific faculty members. In fact, helping guide students and reassure them of their place in the university is one of my biggest goals as a Future Professor! Thank you for this post and your good, thought-provoking questions.
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