If it's any consolation, I came out of H.S., went to a commuter school and failed out of my first semester b/c I stopped attending classes. Three years later, I straightened my shiat out (wife-to-be largely responsible) and went back to that same school to re-take my courses, finish off a full year, then transfered to CU Boulder. I remember the shame of bringing around my academic probation instructor signature form to my professors when I went back to school -- they were flabbergasted that a straight-A-tracking student would be on probation.

I was coming from a different situation than your kids, as I am the only one in my immediate and extended family with a college degree. Ever. The point being that people change, and often for the better...