Everyone who serves in college ministry experiences students dropping out. One common times this happens for freshmen is around the third or fourth week of school.
Common Reasons Students Drop Out:
1. Their survival needs have been met. Many freshmen start attending a ministry looking for friends and a sense of belonging. As the school year develops, those needs are met by other groups and other friendships have developed.
2. Reality Week hits for freshmen. I call the third or fourth week of the fall semester Reality Week for Freshmen. All the Welcome Parties and free food have ended and the first test happens. Suddenly, there is the realization that they are going to have to study.....at least some. That high school honor graduate gets their first D or F on a test. They then make the other extreme route......"I'm going to do nothing but go to class and study.
3. There are personality clashes, friendships or boy friend/girl friend breakups. Just as relationships draw a student to a ministry and keep them connected, breakups in friendships drive them away.
4. Schedules become more complicated especially for upperclassmen. There are labs that meet at all hours. There is hospital observation for health care students. There are school observations for education majors. There are internships and part time jobs. This issue is a reminder of the value of always being keenly aware of the best time and day for your large group event. This can change year to year. It also is one reason that some ministries do a twice in one evening meeting, such as 7:00 and 9:00. That is not just for space issues.
5. Some Juniors and Seniors may feel they have done all the ministry has to offer. Is everything just like it was for their previous two years? Have they attended all the events? This can be especially true for upperclassmen who are not in a leadership role.
6. Church and Campus Ministry Overload. If a student is active in a campus based ministry and a church based ministry, they may simply feel that they cannot give major time to both....especially as classes get harder and more demanding. This also is a reminder of the necessity of campus ministries and church ministries not being identical in what they offer. There are good reasons to be involved in both.
7. A student may drop out when they sense their beliefs and those presented by the ministry are different. Again, a student connects to a ministry for a variety of reasons. If you know that a student is leaving or has left over theological differences, do your best to help them connect to another ministry and leave well. It is not unusual for a student to leave for that reason, but never get connected somewhere else.
8. They drop out due to personal behavior. Sometimes a student will do something inconsistent with their moral code and beliefs. Their sense of guilt may drive them away from your ministry. Do everything possible to keep your relationship warm with them.
9. The Most Frustrating One: When there is mis-behavior by students in key leadership roles that cast a bad light on the ministry as a whole. This is part of helping student leaders be aware of how their lifestyle affects the ministry. We must also deal lovingly with student leaders when we are aware of some behavior that is harmful not just to the ministry, but to them. This is why some ministries maintain an "Honor Code" commitment. But, we should not make our student leaders feel we are creeping around looking over their shoulders all the time to check on them.
As College Ministers, we must do everything possible to keep a positive relationship to students who have dropped out. Be positive and encouraging to them when you see them on campus. If they have dropped to do more at church, let them know you understand and are good with that. If they drop church to do more on campus, help them see the need to at least maintain a "Sunday Connection" and to know they can do that and not participate in everything the college ministry has to offer.
Remember, you are NOT weird or or your ministry a FAILURE when students drop out. It happens in every ministry and no one has a big of a crowd the last week of the semester as they did the first week of the semester! Also, students can disappear one year and come back the next. It happens!
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