Many students stop pursuing education after clearing their higher school level.
In U.S for example many students drop education as they clear their higher school or join college but drop out in the middle due to personal reasons. Now this is a trend that one can see in many other countries too besides U.S in other parts of the world and which needs to be addressed with adequate measure to help students get enlightened with higher education.
Reasons as to why students do not attend college are many, say due to dire circumstances that do not allow the student from continuing their studies or because they feel their grades aren’t good or for that matter they are not very clear about their future goals and the list goes endless. But as we all know, just having a school education is not the complete process of attaining education, hence we recommend school counsellors and parents to start guiding students’ right from the middle school for college education.
Well, some say it can be done through college awareness activities for middle school students and it does work, but we will highlight other ways by which students’ interest for college education can be increased at an early level. Check them out!
Tips to encourage students to get college education:
1. Explain Students the Importance of College Education
There are many students who are the first generation of their families to go to college as they come from low-income or middle income families. So they do not have anyone to guide them on the role of higher education in an individual’s life and rather they are under family pressure to enter workforce right after high school. At the same time, few among them who do not want to join job and wish to pursue higher education have fears about going to college and misconceptions about college and its expenditure.
This is why, it is important for school counselors to reach out early to them and explain the importance of college education, assist them in the selection of colleges, courses and application of forms.
2. Inform Students About Affordable College Programs
Financial crunch is one the major factors why most students leave out the idea of college education or for the first generation students from low income families, applying for expensive courses is indeed taxing. So these students require special assistance with financial aid applications, scholarships and packages that different premier colleges offer today for low income community students. In addition, due to digital revolution, there are various online courses which can be pursued from both regular and open colleges to complete higher education. The benefit of these courses should be availed to the maximum limit by students who want to study as well as work simultaneously.
3. Coordinate with Organizations for College Awareness Events
The other interesting tip is to consider developing college awareness programs and events with local middle schools. When these schools work forward to develop relationships with community access groups and reach organizations which provide academic help to young people, the students are able to understand what local community colleges do, understand the pattern of their classes and move confidently for higher education. These students also get a glimpse of the research programs undertaken in these colleges to pursue for it later.
4. Explaining Students What College life is All About
All students are anxious to know what goes on outside the college classroom. They are eager to know both the on campus and off campus social scene. Thus, in the middle school level they are not too early to encourage student’s eagerness to learn on college life. Rather, if it is discussed with them at this level these students can prepare themselves for larger career goals. And due to the internet revolution, there are a lot of information repository on colleges and schools which can be utilized at this stage to show them what it is like to experience on campus and off campus college life.
5. Registering Students for College Entrance Exams
College education is both tough and expensive from school education and students need to confront with this reality right from middle school so that they get enough time to prepare themselves. School Counsellors need to work with students in understanding this reality. In order to apply for financial aid, scholarship or premier courses, scoring good grade is essential along with clearing of college entrance exams. This is the reason, we recommend school counsellors to register the students for special classes that will prepare them for various entrance exams and help them sharpen their skills for good outcome when it is time to appear for college. An early start is never a bane rather a boon to help students pursue college studies confidently and not fear from it.
To sum it up, we believe ‘Preparation is the key to success’ and so helping students prepare for college right from middle school is no early move but a right move to definitely go for it. Of course, no one can deny that, it is not the students who can do it alone but the right guidance from parents and school counsellors’ do count a lot when we speak of preparing a students for a bright future.
Hence, we would like you to follow the above mentioned tips to prepare students for a good move in life and please share with us your comments on the topic and if you wish to add something more to what we suggested, feel free to do so through your comments.
