Persistence in university studies: The importance of a good start

Abstract

Higher education drop-out is a phenomenon that has been increasing at the same time as the number of students increases in universities. This leads to a significant waste of resources that goes beyond the student and has special relevance in the context of the current economic crisis. Meanwhile, the implementation of the European Higher Education Area demands an improvement of educational outcomes, which encourages the implementation of measures with that aim. However, the little research had been carried out in this context is an added difficulty. The present work aims to contribute to overcoming this handicap. An ex post facto design was applied to 1,055 freshman students from the academic year 2010-2011. The information was collected by extracting socio-demographic information and academic records from the academic management software of the University of Oviedo, and supplemented by the application of a survey designed for this purpose. The results underline the importance of previous academic performance, student engagement, and type of relationship established with faculty staff, on the final decision of the student on whether to continue studies.