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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
st
21 September 2021

examinations (Bungau et al., 2017). Tinto and Cullen (1973) defined two categories of dropping out:
leaving the college of registration and failing to obtain any degree.

According to Donoso et al. (2007), the retention of students in university education is a broad

phenomenon, related to access and higher education selection policies, which reflect the fact that some

high-school graduates do not possess the skills, conditions, capacities, aptitudes, or competences to
continue their university studies. Recent studies have found that the university dropout issue generally

arises during the early years of an individual’s career. Tinto (2006) highlights two critical periods
when the risk of desertion is higher than usual. The first critical period is the admissions process when

a student first accesses the university. The second critical period occurs during the first semesters spent

in university when the student begins the process of social and academic adaptation. Bean (1982)
points out that dropout is not only due to academic variables but can also be explained by

psychosocial, environmental, and socialization factors.

Finding a suitable solution for the high dropout rates is important for both universities and students.
Universities have an obvious interest in not spending scarce resources on students who will not be able

to complete their programs. Students also shall have an obvious interest, since the time they get paid to

study in higher education is limited. Therefore, early identification of the students who are at risk of
dropping out from the university might be a solution up to some extent.

An institution’s success in recruitment ultimately depends on how satisfied students are in pursuing

their studies until graduation, and thus receiving value for the investment they and their families are

making in obtaining higher education (Voigt and Hundrieser, 2008). Initially, an institution should
have a proper admission mechanism to attract the best fitting students to follow the relevant degree

courses. Once enrolled, after a rigorous admission procedure an undergraduate dropping from a degree
course or failing to complete within the standard duration is not spontaneous. As defined by Doll et al.

(2013), the cause of a student dropping out is often termed as the antecedent of dropout because it
refers to the pivotal event which leads to dropout. This is indeed the ultimate result of a cumulative

prolonged process taking place in a student’s life as an undergraduate in a certain higher education

institution.

According to the academic records, dropout rates of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna
in 4 consecutive academic years; 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 were 9.30%, 9.7%,

6.44% and 16.57%, respectively. Those percentages are considerable in terms of the cost of producing

an agricultural graduate. Currently, the Faculty of Agriculture does not have a system to identify
possible student dropouts. Therefore, it is essential to address the issue of student dropout and the

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