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…

This qualitative study aims to provide insight into why teacher candidates, interested in pursuing K-12 teaching, made the decision to leave their traditional teacher preparation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers utilized sociocultural theory as the framework to ground the research. The study finds the educational disruption…

Supporters of distance education highlight the many advantages of online learning as compared to face-toface education, such as greater openness, diversity of teaching materials, adjustment to student learning styles, the speed of learning, and more. Despite the advantages, the growing number of programs, and the increased acceptance of distance…

Since creating the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas in 1985-86, the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) has conducted attrition analyses to assess schools' abilities to hold on to their students until they graduate. This year's study is the 33rd in a series of annual reports on trends in dropout and attrition…

Previous studies have examined patterns of withdrawal from initial teacher education (ITE) programs and have found that pre-service teachers are more likely to withdraw if they are male or older than the typical pre-service teacher. This study presents case studies based on semi-structured interviews with older male pre-service teachers who…

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) prepares an annual report on graduates and dropouts in Texas public secondary schools. This report includes state summaries of the annual dropout rate, longitudinal graduation and dropout rates, and state attrition rates. In addition to statewide statistics, the report provides historical information about dropout…

Approximately 50% of doctoral students in social science, humanities, and educational doctoral programs fail to earn the Ph.D. This number is 10% to 15% higher for students enrolled in online or limited-residency programs. Using in-depth interviewing and qualitative data analysis techniques, this study examined participants' recollections of…

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews in this topic area focus on dropout prevention interventions designed for use in secondary school (middle school, junior high school, and high school) or community-based settings to help students stay in school, progress in school, and/or complete school. Systematic reviews of evidence in this topic area…

This article examines the relationship between student-faculty interactions and student dropout intentions. It develops an integrative model that posits that the association between the frequency of student-faculty interactions and a student's intent to stay in college is positive, and becomes more positive as faculty emotional intelligence…

Honduras has made steady progress in expanding post-primary school coverage in recent years, but many rural communities still do not provide a middle (lower secondary) school. As a result, Honduras has implemented a number of middle school alternative programmes designed to meet the needs of at-risk populations throughout the country. This article…

College student retention has been and continues to be one of the most important issues facing the higher education community. Despite this importance, little is known about the type and methodological rigor of institutional efforts to increase student retention. This article presents the findings of a study which attempted to gain a clearer…

Limited-residency and online doctoral programs have an attrition rate significantly higher than traditional programs. This grounded-theory study focused on issues pertaining to communication between students, their peers and faculty and how interpersonal communication may affect persistence. Data were collected from 17 students actively working on…

The STEM fields, otherwise known as the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics areas, have become the focus of multiple studies and funding initiatives in recent years. Despite these efforts, lingering concerns exist about who enters, who is retained, and who completes the doctorate in STEM fields. This study utilizes discrete-time…

In this article, the author offers a brief overview of retention scholarship and argues that there are several reasons composition studies professionals should pay attention to this area of research. She then considers how the problem of retention reframes and qualifies the issue of access to higher education, an issue that is central to the…

Freshman student retention has become a major focus in higher education. The loss of incoming students is not only financially burdensome to the institution, but it can be academically and personally discouraging for students. Many theoretical constructs have been applied to the problem of student attrition, including the individual constructs of…