They have gone, and now what? Understanding re-enrolment patterns in the Catalan public higher education system

ABSTRACT

Studies of student re-enrolment patterns in higher education constitute, along with traditional studies of persistence and dropout, a key element for improving the quality of higher education institutions. However, these studies tend to be limited as they are centred on a single institution, due to the lack of national-scale data sets for monitoring students between different institutions. Using a longitudinal population-based data set provided by the Catalan University Assurance Agency (AQU), which includes information records on 21,473 undergraduate students, this paper aims to develop and test an exploratory model of student re-enrolment, specifically in the Catalan public university system. We are not only interested in student re-enrolment, but also in whether they do so during the first year after dropout or in the same area of knowledge. Results from logistic regression analysis revealed that although most students return to the university system in the first year after dropout, many of these change to a different area of knowledge, which is clear evidence of dysfunctional and inefficient guidance systems and university entrance. Findings provide a more accurate and complete picture of student re-enrolment behaviour and suggest the need to develop targeted policies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our university systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Dropout
• higher education
• multivariate analysis
• re-enrolment
• retention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

David Rodríguez-Gómez http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9845-0744

Julio Meneses http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4959-456X

Joaquín Gairín http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2552-0921

Mònica Feixas http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3608-3982

José Luís Muñoz http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2572-4155

Notes

1. Catalonia is an autonomous region in the north of Spain, self-governed through its own Parliament, with authority in numerous areas such as local government, justice, commerce, transportation, housing, health, public safety, social welfare, language, culture and education.

2. A full-time undergraduate student must pass at least 12 of the 60 credits in the first academic year and a minimum of 42–60 credits, depending on the programme, during the first two years.