5 Reasons Why Graduate Students Fail to Complete Their Studies (2024)

There are many reasons why individuals may choose to pursue graduate studies. However, statistics show that for those who opt to do so, less than 5% graduate within the stipulated time and 20% at all.

Here are the 5 most common reasons why graduate students fail to graduate.

1. Financial Constraints

Graduate studies require huge financial investments that may prove a hindrance to many. This is particularly true for students who lack funding and rely on personal funds to go through the programmes. Some may be able to raise loans or finances from friends and relatives. However, research requires substantial funding that the students may not be able to raise.

2. Work and Family Responsibilities

Many graduate students have a challenge balancing work, studies and family responsibilities. Quite a number have to maintain full-time jobs to raise the finances needed to fund the graduate programs. At the same time, they have other responsibilities since most are mature students with families. The juggling leads to a lot of stress that eventually forces the students to forgo their studies.

3. Personal Circ*mstances

One of the most important characteristics of successful people is resilience. Graduate students may be discouraged by numerous challenges and lose motivation. Other personal circ*mstances may include poor physical and mental health, moving away to new locations, or having relationship issues that affect studies.

4. Academic Challenges

Graduate studies are demanding for most students. Sometimes students find that they do not have the aptitude for some of the subjects. This leads to poor performance, and the student may be discontinued or drop out due to frustrations.

5. Research and Writing Graduate programmes require students to undertake research and write theses for masters and dissertations for PhDs. For many students who conquer the first four challenges, this is what knocks them out of the race to graduation. Some students lack the skills needed for conducting research and writing. The other challenges are inappropriate or inadequate supervisors who provide poor mentorship and the inability to access data and other research resources.

We would like to hear from you. For those who have completed their studies, which challenges did you face? For those who are yet to complete, which of these has been a thorn in the flesh?