Mental Health and Financial Challenges in the US Trigger University Dropout
In the United States, the most common reason reported for college students dropping out is mental health strain or stress. The research company Gallup and the Lumina Foundation examined attitudes towards college education in the US at a time when college costs are rising.
For the “State of Higher Education Survey” conducted by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation, discussions were held with 6,015 college-enrolled students, 5,012 students who had withdrawn, and 3,005 adults who had never enrolled in higher education. Among the college-enrolled participants of the survey, 35% indicated they considered dropping out of their education. The Black and Hispanic student groups, which have seen small increases in college enrollments nationwide, were seen among the survey participants as the two groups most considering dropping out of college.
According to the survey, 42% of Hispanic students, 40% of Black students, and 31% of white students reported considering dropping out of college. The survey results identified emotional stress, mental health, and education costs as the most prominent reasons for college students considering dropping out of their education. Additionally, according to the data, 54% of the students considered leaving college due to emotional stress, and 43% due to personal mental health reasons.
Stephanie Marken, head of the education research department at Gallup, noted that recent survey data related to the pandemic and, despite expectations that the emotional stress felt by students would return to pre-pandemic norms, the level of stress on students remained at an all-time high. Marken stated, “I think this just represents a new normal,” highlighting that inflation in the country also forced people to work more and triggered more financial stress.
Emphasizing that financial problems can manifest as stress and anxiety, Marken mentioned that this situation made it much harder for students to focus on studying. Marken also expressed concerns that more students might enroll in college in the coming years and then leave without graduating. She pointed out that a student who starts but does not finish college is in a worse economic situation than one who never started, noting that many students in the US take out loans to go to college.