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At many community colleges, professors take time to chat with students on a periodical basis to give them a chance to talk about their feelings and the pressures they are going through if any. Though this is not exactly revolutionary, there are evidences that show that students who interact with personal coaches on a regular basis are more likely to continue their studies as compared to those who do not. This fact has been identified by the Howard Community College leaders.

Community College is a sector in higher education known for yielding lesser graduates and more dropouts. Any initiative that can help students complete their graduation is always welcome and calls for a closer look. At the White House Summit, President Obama called for a nationwide endeavor to identify reasons for the high rate of fallout in community colleges.

Our President’s goal is to produce at least five million graduates from community colleges by the year 2020 under the American Graduation program. National data shows that only one fifth of community college students complete their graduation on time.

This is predominantly due to life circumstances such as poverty, parenthood and full time jobs juggled by poverty stricken community college students. This is what in fact hinders their higher education goals. Students break under the stress they are unable to handle and eventually drop out.

One of the successful two year institutions in Washington, the Howard Community College enjoys a 57% rate of students graduating or transferring to four year colleges within four years. One of the main reasons for this could be a program of support and coaching named Step Up launched at the Columbia campus five years ago.

This program was an initiative of staff and faculty who were looking for ways to enhance rates of retention and hold back students and make them move from one year or semester to the next. Students who failed were interviewed by them and a deep analysis was conducted on what exactly could have helped them succeed.

Surprisingly, most students claimed that they did not pursue their studies because they felt that it did not actually matter. This was revealed by the director of the coaching program and an English professor, Sue Frankel.

In high school, students are motivated enough by counselors, teachers and parents. Compared to this, in colleges students are pretty much left to make their own choices. The myriad distractions and conflicts faced by students in the community colleges influence their decisions and most often they deflect to the wrong track.

According to a coach and philosophy instructor, Helen Heffer, the complications faced by students in community colleges cannot really be comprehended. 33 year old Tucker who ventured into his higher education journey in a four year college, eventually dropped out to spend military time before taking up a job in an air conditioning company. He soon came to know that he suffered from multiple sclerosis.

Before joining Howard Community College a couple of years back, Tucker’s mother passed away. Today, he is forced to work at least 25 hours a week to support his family that includes his wife and three children.

This is pretty much what most community college students are facing in life. Retention and how to reduce it is what community colleges are focusing on today inspired by our President’s graduation goal.