Comparative Analysis of Dropout and Student Permanence in Rural Higher Education

The growing dropout and low permanence of rural students in higher education has become a central problem in the education system, both affecting the quality conditions of training programmes and preventing the materialisation of the benefits that achieving this educational level entails for society. However, the study of these events in rural populations is scarce, resulting in an inadequate treatment of dropout and, consequently, the impossibility of consolidating student permanence. Thus, the aim of this article is to identify which individual, academic, socio-economic, and institutional variables influence the dropout and the retention of the rural student population in higher education. To achieve this purpose, a cross-sectional study was defined. The sample used was a non-probabilistic sample with an n of 269 rural Colombian students who were administered a self-report questionnaire that assessed 59 variables. Data analysis was based on means comparison and cluster modelling. The results show that dropout and permanence in rural students is related to the educational level of the father, family and work obligations, the need to move from their place of residence, the academic average in higher education, satisfaction with the choice of programme, communication with the institution, and the attention of teachers, among other things.