Dropout Risk Factors based on the Admissions Database

Abstract

With the changes of higher education, the student society has also transformed. The doors of universities, which were previously narrow and recruitment-based, opened to people from wide-range of social backgrounds. From the heterogeneity of students appeared the phenomenon of dropout. This not only relates to higher education and Hungary, but also to public education and nearly the whole world. A number of authors highlight the importance of the first school year (Horn, 1998), because this is the time when the individual adapts to the university atmosphere, creates connections with peers, educators and whole institution (Pusztai, 2011). Also this is the time, when it is evaluated that to what degree are the available study-methods, skills and financial expenditure sufficient for continuation. In my thesis I investigate what risk factors leading to early drop-out can be identified among students of going vocational school prior to higher education, and how these vary among grammar school students. I examined students from secondary education in the Southern Great Plain Region based higher education recruitment database of 2016 and 2017. The results show, that not all risk factors allow for the clear identification of institutional differences.