CALIFORNIA IN FIRST PLACE, BUT NOT A WINNER

According to a Los Angeles Times article, a study shows that California spends the most money on first-year college students who drop out.

During these economic times when the California State University system is in need of funding, news of wasted taxpayers money is not easily swallowed. The study conducted by the Washington-based American Institutes for Research, called “Finishing the First Lap: The Cost of First Year Student Attrition in America’s Four Year Colleges and Universities,” revealed that California spent $467 million on students who did not return the following year.

Mark Schneider, the author of the study, suggests that state governments be stricter on colleges’ productivity and efficiency. In essence, the colleges should accommodate the students’ needs to help the students be more satisfied and urge them to stay at school.

When CSULB student Dennis Luu was asked what he thought of this data he thought that the schools and the government are already doing a good job. He said that some students did not return to school because they were forced to leave due to uncontrollable circumstances, and they did not necessarily choose to leave. For example some students need to have full-time employment to support themselves or their family and do not have the time to go to school.

Because there are many unknown variables as to why students do not return for their second year, it seems that this will be a difficult endeavor for the state government to decide how to wisely spend school funding in the future.