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Background and aims
Higher education was reformed through the Bologna Process with the hope that an increasing number of students will get a degree faster than before due to the short cycle of bachelor’s programs. However, the change in structure has not reduced student attrition in Western Europe. Even in the 2010s, understanding the phenomenon of attrition is one of the most significant challenges in higher education research. In Hungary, almost two fifths of bachelor’s students and one fifth of master’s students leave higher education without earning a degree.
Methods
When examining student attrition, we may use data on institutions or individuals. Institutional data reveal the proportion of those who continue their studies without interruption (retention), while data on the individual level allow the investigation of students’ expectations about their own chances of getting a degree (persistence).
Results
By comparing attrition rates among those who pursued higher education in 2010 and 2014 at different faculties (data from the Higher Education Information System – FIR) with data from a regional student survey (IESA database), we have found that faculties with high retention rates also demonstrate a large proportion of self-reported persistent students. Furthermore, we have explored the effect of individual traits (demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status), institutional factors (size, selectivity, maintainer, and prestige), and embeddedness (multiplexity and strength of different social networks) on student persistence.
Conclusion
We have shown that institutional factors and embeddedness have a more significant impact than demographic and social characteristics, which individuals have before entering higher education.
