Beckermann's Berlin Brief

The FAZ (Frankfurter Allegemein Zeitung) ran an interesting article yesterday about the rate of college/university dropouts and gave three reasons why students fail to complete their studies.

Evidently, the number one reason is that students are unable to cope with the pressures and expectations of university. Second, are financial reasons, many students often cannot afford to continue with their educational development and must enter the workforce. Third, and finally, many students realize that a university degree simply isn’t what they need, or want, or perhaps the degree simply isn’t what they expected.

The first two reasons are what got me thinking the most. I can definitely relate on both counts. There have certainly been times when I felt discouraged or even upset about marks - but these were fleeting thoughts and luckily I have a support network of family and friends with whom I was able to discuss my fears and frustrations and who encouraged me to continue. It also helped that I didn’t just focus on my studies; I participated in social activities outside of academia and feel as though I learnt just as much from those experiences as in the classroom.

On the financial side, it’s pretty obvious, most students feel the financial strain at one point or another, which is why it is important for banks and governments to make loans accessible and realistic in terms of repayment options, or offer grants to those most in need.

It would have been useful for the author of this article to examine the support mechanisms available to students, both personally and financially in Germany and at German universities. Such an examination could serve as a means to open the discussion on ideas and policies that support students so as to reduce the rising dropout rates, which according to the article, pose a current and future economic burden on the German economy. Perhaps next week the FAZ will run a follow-up article offering a more some plausible solutions/remedies to the problem.