Student drop-out from Professional Bachelor programmes
Student retention in Danish educational institutions

This is a report on a quantitative study of student drop-out from programmes leading to a qualification in nursing or engineering or as a teacher or social educator. In addition to examining dropping out, a purpose of the study was to identify institutions for subsequent inclusion in a number of qualitative studies. The quantitative study reported here and the subsequent qualitative studies are all to be included in a major research project called “Bridging the gap between theory and practice in Professional Bachelor programmes”.

The present report examines the educational institutions’ performance in terms of student retention, taking into account the composition of the student body. The findings of this study are used to identify institutions for inclusion in the research project’s qualitative studies, where particular emphasis will be placed on the relation between the theory students learn at the institutions and the reality they encounter in their trainee placements.

The project is funded by the Danish Council for Strategic Research and is being carried out in collaboration by the Danish School of Education, the Danish Institute of Governmental Research, University College UCC and the Engineering College of Aarhus.