Today's job market requires higher education, plain and simple. Students have to be ready for college, and colleges are watching their educational progress. In this age of instant information, colleges can accept or decline prospective students on a whim. So keep your high school student on the road to academic success by encouraging them to keep up their studies all the way to the end.

A pitfall to avoid is the "senior slump." Seniors tend to take it easy their senior year, especially when they've already been accepted to a college. An old tradition was to waste away that last semester in physical education and other electives, but those days are gone. Now, colleges want students who work hard all the way to graduation.

One of the main reasons for the senior slump is that GPA's were traditionally frozen in place after the first semester senior year. Today, that's not the case. Schools watch fluctuations in grades until the final days of high school.

A college watches a prospective student's achievement closely during their senior year, and they can withdraw an admission offer if grades fall too low. They also watch to make sure that college prep classes aren't being dropped. If these standards aren't met, a college can place conditions on admission, such as a minimum grade point average the first year.

Sharp academic skills are a must in today's universities. By taking it easy at the end of senior year, students are losing a valuable edge. The core skills developed during the previous years must be maintained; otherwise a student will be at a big disadvantage during their first year of college. Many college freshman drop out if they had been in their final months of high school.

Even worse, students who slack off in senior year have been shown to perform poorly in placement exams. Studies have shown that up to sixty percent fall behind during their freshman year of college. Remedial work is often required to hone their skills, leading to wasted time and an extra financial burden.

Even if a student doesn't lose an admission offer for a senior slump, colleges look down on this practice. In an overcrowded educational world, this may be the basis for a school to keep an unnecessarily watchful eye on a student's academic progress.

Colleges today notice these senior slump inclinations and are on the watch for decreased performance. They can easily examine student's records and rescind their offer for admission. There is no excuse or reason for a student to destroy their academic career with a semester or two of taking it easy.

When students are getting ready for the transition from high school to collegiate life, they are under tremendous pressure. Students have no idea what's in store for them, and they are often more focused on the future than the present. Finishing high school strong is a key step towards ensuring their future success at college, so parents and students should make every effort possible to avoid the senior slump.