According to various studies, one of the main reasons for delayed graduation is money.
While some research indicates that there are several other factors (e.g. personal support from staff, program organization, quality of staff) [1] that may influence dropout rate, financial factors (e.g. student loan, tuition reduction, deferment status) are highly related to graduate student persistence [2], and most dropouts in deed name money as the main reason for dropping out [3].
University education (and everything that comes with it) costs money – significant amounts of money, actually [4,5,6] – and studying costs time. A side hustle (aka “student job”) may get you some money but it also takes away valueable time from your studies. Unless you study part time [7] or you are on a scholarship (in some cases: even then!), you need to sacrifice some study time to get a student job in order to afford life on campus, and you can end up juggling work and studies, for several years. Most people probably faced that dilemma more than once.
Speaking of scholarships: some countries recognize the importance of financial aid and offer a range of scholarships for international students to make their life easier (or: make the road to graduation possible, at all), such as Sweden [8] or Gibraltar [9], just to name two out of many.
If you are about to enroll – do your research, weigh your options, and studying abroad may be a lot cheaper than in your home country (depending on where you are from, obviously).
If you are already enrolled, it’s still worth researching the possibilities of financial support, or even student loans, for “partial stress relief”.
What does your personal situation look like and how will you improve it within the next 6 months?