Success for 4-year universities is often measured by graduation and retention rates; however, gaps exist in understanding nonreturning students at private institutions. Recent research is helping to build the lexicon of drop-outs, stop-outs, opt-outs, and transfer-outs to inform strategic retention initiatives. Using an action research method, we…

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:…

The persistent gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is often attributed to differences in students' confidence in their own academic abilities (i.e. self-efficacy). Yet, the role of self-efficacy in mediating gender differences in STEM attrition is unclear. To address this issue, we analyse administrative register…

Postgraduate education has become increasingly crucial for nations in recent years, contributing to scientific, technological, and social progress. However, high dropout rates may undermine the benefits of postgraduate education. This study aims to identify which individual, academic, socio-economic, and institutional variables influence student…

Taking a leave of absence (LoA) has been identified as an important precursor and risk factor for attrition for many university students. This study describes a proactive outreach intervention to students on LoA through the lens of Tinto's theory of student integration. Historical trends in the university of interest indicate just under 9% of…

Policies on academic probation and dismissal have existed in the American higher education system for decades to maintain academic quality and encourage students to improve their performance. Research has aimed to clarify the relationship between academic probation, dismissal, and retention, yet differing results emerge. Furthermore, the…

Social mobility, and in particular, intergenerational mobility, can be driven by increased opportunities for extended education. Movement beyond a family's social class will often see positive changes to overall life satisfaction, however, this movement can introduce feelings of alienation. This in turn can lead to detachment either from the…

The increased availability of technology in higher education has led to the growth of online learning platforms. However, a significant concern exists regarding dropout rates in online higher education (OHE). In this ever-evolving landscape, student attrition poses a complex challenge that demands careful investigation. This systematic literature…

The problem addressed in this study was the high rate of student nursing attrition. The purpose of this qualitative single case research study was to identify perceived barriers to program completion for registered nursing pre-licensure students to determine ways to help students overcome these challenges. The conceptual framework for this…

Background: While previous work in higher education documents the impact of high tuition costs of attending graduate school as a key motivator in attrition decisions, in engineering, most graduate students are fully funded on research fellowships, indicating there are different issues causing individuals to consider departure. There has been…

Law schools are held accountable on many fronts to achieve and maintain high bar passage rates. While the course of legal education itself, along with various interventions, is a key driver of bar exam performance, Bahadur et al. (2021) suggests that obscure institutional practices might be inflating institutional bar passage performance. Such…

The Texas community college systems served culturally diverse students in asynchronous courses. However, attrition rates remained low for culturally diverse students. Instructors had the potential to increase attrition rates of culturally diverse students. However, there was limited research exploring the implementation of such approaches by…

Student attrition from STEM disciplines is one of the most pressing issues in higher education. To better understand the causes of this attrition, this study examines STEM students' college experiences and uncovers their perspectives on the existing support systems with a specific focus on the role of academic advising. Our research reveals that…

This study's purpose is to examine whether resilience, conceptualized by Connor and Davidson (2003) as one's capacity to persevere and rebound under adversity, was a potential mitigating and/or moderating factor in the dynamic between both psychological distress and academic burnout, and student attrition. We concurrently distributed a survey…

The problem addressed in this study was that online college learners were experiencing a high attrition rate during the first year of participation (Jobe et al., 2018). The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to examine the lived experiences of online college learners, which influenced students completing online college courses…