Personal Essay

Running head: WHY DO STUDENTS 1

Why do Students Take so Long to Complete College?

Student Name

Class Name

University Name

Instructor Name

WHY DO STUDENTS 2

Why do Students Take so Long to Complete College?

It is baffling how a five-year degree can take so long to complete. When going to school,

many extenuating circumstances caused a five year degree to take almost eight years. Much of

this was balancing work, school, and a family. However, there were other circumstances that

made completing college a problem. Two of the most common challenges that plagued my

progress, and still seem to be a problem for students today, are motivation and procrastination.

Motivation is complex, as it entails both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic

motivation is how one values and takes pride in learning while extrinsic motivation is solely

based upon the external reward such as grade, graduation, and eventual employment (Brownlow

& Reasinger, 2000). A good example of extrinsic motivation is in a study by Dunwoody and

Frank (1995) who found that students dropped courses for reasons such as not being happy with

their grade, not liking the professor, or not finding the subject of interest. These reasons for not

continuing a course are all based on the extrinsic motivation of grade completion that shows a

lack of intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation begins at a very young age with parents teaching children to take

pride in their own work. As children grow older and begin school, these motivators must

continue to be instilled as the children start to enter into extrinsic motivators such as token

economies and grades (Brownlow & Reasinger, 2000). Parents need to continue to encourage

their children to want to do well in school for their own pride and enjoyment rather than focusing

on grades as extrinsic rewards. A study completed of first-year freshmen showed that students

who have family involvement and support are better at completing college than those whose

families are not as involved in their children’s education (Pan, Guo, Alikonis, & Bai, 2008); thus,

WHY DO STUDENTS 3

continuing to encourage children to take pride in their work helps children at the college level to

stay motivated.

Still, extrinsic motivation can help students to complete college in a timely manner. A

study by Woosley (2000) determined that students who had a social network of other students

and instructors were more than likely to complete college within a set time period than those who

did not have connection with other students and instructors. The motivation sought by students

from their peers and instructors reward the students through praise and encouragement. Students

need feedback from instructors to encourage forward motion. Peers also give this same type of

motivation in social conversations and class discussions (Allen, 1999).

Procrastination almost goes hand in hand with motivation. A student is more likely to

procrastinate if there is no motivation. Procrastinators, according to Brownlow and Reasinger

(2000), have difficulty self-regulating. They need more extrinsic motivation in order to complete

their education. Parents and college professors often think grades are the best motivators for

students to complete educational goals, but they are not the most effective means of motivation

for the procrastinator. Procrastinators need the continuous extrinsic motivation that praise and

encouragement bring.

To complete a degree within the time allocations that a college sets is a challenge for any

student. It is even more of a challenge for a student who lacks motivation or for the student who

procrastinates. To help an individual complete college in the allocated time, a student needs to

establish a social network early in her college career and families need to be encouraging and

stay involved. Through the establishment of these support systems, students receive the

motivation they need to continue going to classes and to complete their educational career.

WHY DO STUDENTS 4

References

Allen, D. (1999). Desire to finish college: An empirical link between motivation and

persistence. Research in Higher Education, 40(4), 461-485.

Brownlow, S., & Reasinger, R. D. (2000). Putting off until tomorrow what is better done

today: Academic procrastination as a function of motivation toward college work.

Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 15(5), 15-34.

Dunwoody, P. T., & Frank, M. L. (1995). Why students withdraw from classes. Journal of

Psychology, 129, 553.

Pan, W., Guo, S., Alikonis, C., & Bai, H. (2008). Do intervention programs assist students to

succeed in college?: A multilevel longitudinal study. College Student Journal, 42(1), 90-

98.

Woosley, S. A. (2003). How important are the first few week of college? The long term

effects of initial college experiences. College Student Journal, 37(2), 201.