Black, Hispanic students more likely to drop out

Black and Hispanic students are more likely than their peers to consider dropping out of college, according to a Gallup and Lumina Foundation survey of current students conducted last fall. The most common reasons they gave for stopping coursework were emotional stress and personal mental health, followed by cost. Forty-two percent of Black current students and 40 percent of Hispanic students said they had considered withdrawing from their program in the past six months, compared to 31 percent of white students. Overall, 35 percent of students across racial groups considered abandoning higher education. The findings were true across all postsecondary program types, including credential and industry certification pathways.