Comments about ‘Experts say building skills like grit and perseverance will help increase college readiness in the U.S.’

I've been saying for a long time there needs to be a "handy man" course students can take.

This covers some good points, but after teaching college freshmen for a dozen years, I've seen a few other reasons why kids leave college.

1--Some kids are absolutely clueless as to what college life will be like. I've had a few confess they really thought it would be non-stop parties and fun, just like in poor quality movies. They leave out of disappointment.

2--Some kids are burned out from high school. The goal--always--is to get good grades to go to college. Often college sounds like the end, not another beginning. To realize that college is more of the same, but with greater intensity, is simply too much. They leave to get a break.

3--Money is a very real concern. Some kids are very uncomfortable paying so much (or having their parents struggle) and wonder if there isn't some other way. They leave to earn money.

4--Some realize college just isn't for them. High school was an endurance test, and going to college is just more of the horrible same. These kids leave for a better alternative.

College is NOT for everyone. And that's fine. There are other ways to get job training.

After teaching junior high and high school for 28 years I agree with this article wholeheartedly. However, I think one of the biggest reasons people in Utah stop out of college is that they are pressured into getting married very young and they just cannot afford it. So yes, it is money, but not the reason, especially in Utah, of just money. It is hard to raise a family at such a young age and go to college too. Stay poor for a while longer, get your education and then begin the rest of your life. Just as Mom of 8 states, "college is NOT for everyone" no it isn't but most don't have the maturity and skills to go straight to work. They some type of training through a tech. college or apprenticeships.