WHY STUDENTS ARE TAKING SO LONG TO GRADUATE AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
One of the measures of quality of any college is its graduation rate. Many would expect that it takes 4 years to earn a 4-year bachelor’s degree, however, this is frequently not the case. Recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics reports that roughly one-third of college students will change their major. This fact should worry parents who pay the tuition bill.
Changing majors late in the course of the allotted four years comes with an expensive consequence. The student is likely to need more time to complete the requirements associated with the new major, and this can add up to a big expense for students and parents. The fact that college costs go up every year in almost all cases means that the last year of college will be the most expensive.
What can be done about this commonplace phenomenon? As parents, you can try to expose your students to a variety of activities with the goal of uncovering their interests, hoping your student will discover their talents. While this is not a proven approach, it is better than sitting back and blindly guessing. Naviance, if your school uses it, provides an interest assessment. Many mistakes the interest assessment for an aptitude test. It is not. The problem with any interest assessment is that self-reported information is collected. Your student is asked about their level of interest in various areas of work utilizing Holland Codes. Their level of interest can be affected by their mood and their exposure, tied to specific life experiences.
A reliable solution can be found in an aptitude assessment. Aptitudes remain constant once a student reaches 14 years old. They are a measure of your student’s ability to obtain a skill in the future. Additional benefits of an aptitude assessment include the establishment of self-awareness. If we all understood our strengths and weaknesses we could choose our careers with our eyes wide open and with an understanding of where our challenges lie. If we chose careers that utilized our innate talents, we would be more effective, more efficient, and less frustrated. As parents, we not only want our children to be successful, we want them to be happy. Given the amount of time individuals spend working, securing an aptitude test for your student is an investment in their happiness and protection for your wallet where college costs are concerned.
Contact CollegeGPS to schedule an aptitude assessment for your student. The results will delight you.