University dropout is a serious problem in higher education that is increasingly gaining importance, as it is essential to understand its causes and search for public and institutional policies that can help reduce it. This research uses conventional and extended Cox survival models to analyze the factors behind dropout rates at a co-financed…

Background: Education plays a pivotal role in empowering individuals with the knowledge and skills needed for careers, economic progress, and societal engagement. Dropping out of school before achieving a qualification undermines these opportunities and has an impact on individuals and society (Audit Commission, 2010; OECD, 2023). International…

This paper investigates the student dropout phenomenon in a technical Italian university from a time-to-event perspective. Shared frailty Cox time-dependent models are applied to analyse the careers of students enrolled in different engineering programs with the aim of identifying the determinants of student dropout through time, predicting the…

Purpose: This study aimed to use enrollment information including demographic, family background and financial status, which can be gathered before the first semester starts, to construct early prediction models (EPMs) and extract crucial factors associated with first-year student dropout probability. Design/methodology/approach: The real-world…

Every year around 1.2 million students drop out of school in the US. According to a UNICEF report enrollment in educational institutions in Lebanon dropped from 60% in 2020-2021 to 43% in 2021-2022. The National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) at Clemson University has identified an extensive set of risk factors organized into four domains:…

Background: Although most engineering graduate students are funded and usually complete their degrees faster than other disciplines, attrition remains a problem in engineering. Existing research has explored the psychological and sociological factors contributing to attrition but not the structural factors impacting attrition. Purpose/Hypothesis:…

Evidence on the extent to which dropout intention can serve as a valid predictor of dropout decisions remains scarce. This study first presents the results of a systematic literature review of 14 studies examining the relationship between dropout intention and actual dropout in post-secondary education (vocational education and training [VET] or…

While open and distance education gains growing recognition over time, it also faces increasing drop-out rates. Consequently, the development of predictive models for early identification of students at-risk for drop-out could be critical to promote ongoing engagement. This study aims to gain insights into the dropout prediction problem in a…

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the extent of dropout students and identify the relationship between risk factors of dropout and the survival time of students. Design/methodology/approach: The Kaplan-Meier estimator (KM), also known as the product-limit technique, is a nonparametric model function that is commonly used in…

We propose a novel approach to address the issue of college student attrition by developing a hybrid model that combines a structural neural network with a piecewise exponential model. This hybrid model not only shows the potential to robustly identify students who are at high risk of dropout, but also provides insights into which factors are most…

This paper combines a theoretical-based model with a data-driven approach to develop an Early Warning System that detects students who are more likely to dropout. The model uses innovative multilevel statistical and machine learning methods. The paper demonstrates the validity of the approach by applying it to administrative data from a leading…

We investigated changes in youths' intentions to quit school after following a group-based cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) based intervention for depressed adolescents in upper secondary school: the Adolescent Coping with Depression Course (ACDC). Data were collected from 228 youths, 133 of whom received the 14-week ACDC intervention and 95 who…

Cooperative education programs are usually based on a partnership between companies and universities. Dropouts have a particular impact here, for example the loss of junior staff in the companies. Most dropouts in cooperative education occur in the first academic year. In this multicausal dropout process, the influence of the cooperation partner…

Early school leaving has profound implications at a socio-economic level and planning effective prevention programs within school is crucial for contrasting it. Based on the hypothesis that the dropout is the last step of a process that ends in the student's decision to leave school, we studied the interplay between multiple risk factors of school…

We analyse the economic returns in lifetime labour income of various educational paths in Germany. Using recent data, we calculate cumulative labour earnings at different ages and for different educational paths while controlling the parental background of individuals. We find that after the age of 55, lifetime labour income is higher for…