Dropping out of university: A statistical analysis of the probability of withdrawal for UK university students

Jeremy Smith and Robin Naylor ()

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, 2001, vol. 164, issue 2, 389-405

Abstract: From individual level data for an entire cohort of undergraduate students in the ‘old’ universities in the UK, we use a binomial probit model to estimate the probability that an individual will ‘drop out’ of university before the completion of their degree course. We examine the cohort of students enrolling full time for a 3‐ or 4‐year degree in the academic year 1989–1990. We find evidence to support both the hypothesis that the completion of courses by students is influenced by the extent of prior academic preparedness and the hypothesis that social integration at university is important. We also find an influence of unemployment in the county of prior residence, especially for poorer male students. Finally, we draw conclusions regarding the public policy of constructing university performance indicators in this area.

Date: 2001
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (77)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-985X.00209

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:164:y:2001:i:2:p:389-405

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://ordering.onli ... 1111/(ISSN)1467-985X

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A is currently edited by A. Chevalier and L. Sharples

More articles in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A from Royal Statistical Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().