Helping At-Risk Students Make It Past Their First College Christmas

Bad first-semester grades are a strong motivator for first-year students to pack their bags and ditch university. Around 45 per cent of students who drop out in their first year do so in panic after getting low grades. To stop the flight of these so-called Christmas graduates who drop off the roster around the holiday season, some universities screen students using their fall midterm marks and provide help that attempts to focus on the deeper issues behind poor grades. Since they launched the program in 2008, the centre found that students who accepted help had a much higher chance of passing the course. Read more at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/universities-tossing-at-risk-undergrads-an-academic-lifebuoy/article2283441/