A Model for Sustainable Student Retention: A Holistic Perspective on the Student Dropout Problem with Special Attention to e-Learning

Abstract

This article introduces a comprehensive model to assist institutions in planning for interventions to address student dropout and to increase student retention. The model is the result of an extensive review, analysis, and synthesis of research and theoretical studies. It is flexible and represents a comprehensive set of factors related to student retention, categorized in meaningful ways, and can be used at multiple levels: institutional, departmental or program, by individual faculty, or by students. The need for a model of this kind has long been recognized because, as Woodley and Parlet (1983, cited in Cookson 1989) stated, there is a systematic problem involving the institution as a whole. The problem involving retention of students is not due to an isolated factor that can be “fixed,” but rather imagination and care must be used to carefully select interventions that are needed at various points throughout the organization.