If a kid skips a year of college what are the odds she finishes her degree?

In My Humble Opinion
21

Those two are not good examples for “finishing the degree isn’t as automatically important as it once was”. First, they both founded their companies around 1975, at the very beginning of the personal computer world. There weren’t degrees in computer science back then, and as far as I can tell, neither one of them ever worked for a different company -lack of a degree is less of a hindrance when you are starting your own business than when you are looking for a job with an existing company. Second, in 1975 around 18% of men and 11% of women had a 4 year degree - in 2019 it was around 35% for each gender. Even if you were looking for a job in 1975, most of your competition didn’t have a degree either. And lots of jobs that want degrees now didn’t require one in 1975.

As far as taking a year off- it can go either way. She might decide that working at Goodwill for minimum wage for the rest of her life is such a horrible future that she goes back just as soon as she can. ( That’s what happened to my son after a semester off working at Toys R US) She might find a more interesting, better paying job and deciding going back to school for the bachelor’s/MLS isn’t worth it. ( which is what happened when the same son got a good job right before he finished an associate’s - he finished the associates but didn’t go further) There’s of course also a chance that she’ll decide working at Goodwill or some other minimum wage job for the rest of her life isn’t so bad - but you would probably know if that was a possibility.

22

I teach at a college. We have a saying: “We love returning students.”

If a student takes a semester (or a year or more) off, they come back because they want to, because they’re serious about getting something out of it.

Our biggest problem is the kid right out of high school who’s going to college because it’s expected of them, because their parents wouldn’t understand if they didn’t.

Returning students work a lot harder, and enjoy it more. Have a lot more purpose in being in school. And often get better internships, which lead to job offers before they graduate.

But YMMV…

23

I was treated very well by my professors when I returned to college for exactly these reasons. They knew I wanted to be there and a few went very far out of their way to help me. Also had a few conflicts with profs that I felt weren’t doing right by their students because I wasn’t afraid to call them out, but that’s another story.

24

I stepped out, and still ended up earning a degree. I went to the wrong school, in the wrong program, for the wrong reason. Taking time off was a good move.

As others like digs have noted, if you take time off because you really weren’t in the right program for you, and go back because you want to, that’s usually a good move. Today, a huge number of kids go to university because they just assume it’s expected of them; that often doesn’t turn out well. At no point before starting university did I ever actually reflect on what I wanted to do, or what I wanted to learn, or for that matter where I wanted to live. I only figured some of that stuff out after two miserable years.

25

As an ex-college prof, I noted the pluses of returning, older students (and the occasional negative).

But that’s sort of self-selecting group. We didn’t see the ones that took time off and never came back.

IMO, it all comes down the the real reason for the break. Sure, finances and family issues can have an impact, but sometimes these are on top of other issues. So it is really an individual thing that requires knowing quite a bit of personal info about the student.

26

JC, I hate to say this because you’re someone I really like, but you sound like someone who believes he knows what’s right for her, and you want to make sure she does this.

No. Don’t go down this road.

You need to listen to her. Hear what she has to say, listen to what she’s willing to share with you about where she’s at.

Even if her stepfather’s death was expected, she’s been living with his final illness for the past year. And given that his death just happened, she’s probably reeling a bit from it.

People deal with grief in different ways. Maybe she’d deal with it by losing herself in her schoolwork. Maybe her grief and loss would make it impossible for her to concentrate on her studies. You don’t know. Even she probably doesn’t really know at this point. But she’s got a better WAG than you do. Take time to listen, whether she’s ready to talk about that or not.

Also, this next academic year is likely to be a sucky year for any college student, anywhere, unless distance learning is really their thing. Distance learning from professors who never figured they’d have to learn to teach this way, and are doing it for real for the first time (the tail end of this academic year doesn’t really count), isn’t going to be fun on either side of the desk. Maybe classes will be back to normal by the fall of 2021, and if they’re not, the professors will have been through their shakedown year, and will be more committed to distance learning by then because they’ll have to be. If there was ever a year to sit out, even for a bad reason, the coming academic year is it.

Your role is to be supportive, and to the extent that you’re able to do so in your professional capacity, allay her concerns about being able to afford her education. Let her know what she’s got, and that it’s available this year, or next year, or whenever. And that you believe in her, and you know she’s got what it takes to finish her degree, whenever she chooses to do it.

But don’t come across as someone who thinks he knows what course is right for her. Don’t try to push or even nudge her in the direction you want.

Because she needs to make a decision that’s fully her own: that’s how you become an adult. Going along with someone else’s decision for your own life is a step back towards childhood. She has to make her own mistakes, learn and grow from them, and gain confidence in her own ability to choose her path in life.

27

While I agree somewhat with RTFirefly, I also completely “get” what you are feeling and what worries you about her taking a year off. I don’t have statistics to share but from what I’ve seen, taking a year off is much more detrimental to those kids who don’t have family support and people around her reinforcing that a degree is potentially a life-changer. It’s one thing to take a “gap year” or two when you come from a family where higher education is the norm and most of your friends and family have degrees. A gap year for many includes travel, experiencing new things, internships, jobs, etc. But that is not her situation. As much as I agree that it is not your place to decide what is best for her or what she should do, helping her stay on track could make all the difference. Like you, I would want to do anything possible to help her keep going to school as long as that is her CHOICE and not just your influence.

I know some people who took a break for a year or two and then jumped back in. I know some who dabbled in community college, took time off, worked various jobs and never finished the degree. Of the people I know, those who didn’t go back all came from families that didn’t place much importance on a college degree and the parents also didn’t have degrees. I would start with talking to the school about giving her a break on tuition, but it does seem that maybe she needs a break emotionally and perhaps staying home a year or a semester is needed for her mental health. If so, I would try to set up a specific plan with the school where she could take the time off but stay on track by taking at least one or two classes online or at a local CC while working (maybe part time?) at Goodwill. This would greatly help her keep engaged with the ultimate goal of going back and getting a degree. My father was the first ever in his extended family to get a degree, all because his high school science teacher helped him submit an application and get a scholarship to Penn State. Otherwise, his only real options were the coal mines, the steel mills, or brick laying like all the men in his family. The trades are a great option as long as they are a choice and not “the only option because I couldn’t afford to get the degree I had hoped to have.”

Offering your help and guidance is invaluable; just make sure SHE is the driving force and remember that what you want is not always the best/only path for someone else. If college isn’t her passion, encourage a trade school so she can see that there are many opportunities and roads to success. I would love to hear updates.