TAKING A BREAK IN SCHOOLING: WHY COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS STOP OUT

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Abstract
When 399 nonreturnees from one community college were asked about their educational goals and plans, 300 said they had originally intended to complete a degree or certificate program or to transfer to another school; 303 had not completed their goal but planned to do so in the future. The great majority (73%) thus saw themselves as stopouts, not as dropouts. Lack of time or lack of money were factors for about two of every five respondents. Money problems tended to be identified with school expenses, but time problems were identified with other adult roles (worker or family member). When listing “other events or circumstances,” which two of every three persons did, respondents again identified work and family responsibilities most often. Only one person in six said that something about school was a reason for not returning. Each respondent could identify as many causes as seemed relevant; and, on average, most identified two of the six main items and multiple items in the subcategories. Thus, there is some confirmation that it is a web of circumstances that leads to dropout or stopout. Top reasons for attending the college were (in order) personal improvement, being with interesting people, getting job skills, and taking courses for transfer credit. Females were more interested than males in getting job skills; males were more interested in transfer credit. Hispanics tended to give more reasons for attending that whites did, thus showing a greater expectation that the community college would serve a wide variety of purposes, both social and task‐oriented. Nonreturnees generally had positive feelings about grades, how much they had learned, how the learning would help on the job or elsewhere, their enjoyment of class, and how well they got to know teachers. There was less favorable response about things that happened at school but not in class. Recommendations are given about how faculty and administrators can work with groups and with individual students to help them accomplish their educational goals, whether with or without stopping out.

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