Students Drop Out of Universities at Increasing Rates

By Financial Mail on Sunday, London

Dec. 11–The university term is almost over and students are looking forward to a well-earned break. For some, especially those who find holiday jobs, the break will be permanent.

Nine out of ten students find holiday work and a regular income can lure the disillusioned into turning their backs on university and growing student debt.

Drop-out rates are on the increase. The number of students who quit after their first year rose from 7.3 per cent of the 2001 intake to 7.8 per cent of 2002 starters, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

David Boxer quit his degree in communication studies at Nottingham Trent University after his first term in 1999.

David, 25, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, says: “Only a few weeks into the course, I felt it wasn’t right for me, and when I came home for Christmas I knew I wouldn’t go back.”

Instead, he took a job with a public relations firm in London. He says: “I had not taken advice from my tutors and I didn’t even tell my parents until a few days before I was due to go back to university.”

The desire to get a degree stayed with him and he later gave up his salary to study history at the University of Hertfordshire. Now he works for a PR firm in St Albans.

The Government has made a £282 million commitment to help universities support students who might be at risk of leaving before completing their courses. Those in two minds should also call the student advisory services to avoid making a rash decision.

Niru Williams, head of counselling at the University of East London, says: “The first term is definitely the toughest, but if we can get students past Christmas, they start to see light at the end of the tunnel.”

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