Learning Environment: Relevant or Not to Students' Decision to Leave University?

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the reasons why students in Norway leave higher education institutions before degree completion and the extent to which these reasons are of the type that can be influenced by the university. As occurs in many countries, a proportion of students starting an undergraduate liberal arts degree in Norway leave their university without completing their degree. The institutions' capacity to influence this decision is limited. The most common reasons for students either transferring or dropping out are beyond the university's control. However, for both types of leavers, the learning environment seems to have been somewhat influential in the decision to leave. Therefore, improving the learning environment through closer contact between students and teachers will probably also enhance retention.

Keywords:

• retention (of students)
• student departure
• learning environment
• factor analysis
• Norway
• student–staff interaction

Acknowledgements

The data collection for this article was sponsored by the University of Oslo, the University of Bergen and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The authors are grateful for the opportunity to use the data in further research. The authors also want to thank Ian Dobson, Bj⊘rn Stensaker and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments.