IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp16853.html

What Works? Interventions Aimed At Reducing Student Dropout in Higher Education

Author

Listed:
  • Ibsen, Kristoffer

    (Aarhus University)

  • Rosholm, Michael

    (Aarhus University)

Abstract

High student dropout rates are a continuing concern within higher education and have received considerable attention for decades. Despite numerous proposed interventions, it remains unclear which interventions are effective, and what the pivotal active ingredients are. This paper systematically synthesizes the effects of different interventions on dropout and graduation rates in higher education. Screening around 7250 abstracts of potentially relevant studies, we found 38 (quasi-)experimental studies that met our pre-specified inclusion criteria. We describe the studies in various dimensions and conduct a narrative systematic review as well as a meta-analysis. Our findings indicate a general tendency towards positive effects. Interventions manipulating peer group composition, particularly those adjusting for gender and ability, show the most promising outcomes. We discuss the economic implications of effect sizes and show that they are considerable. This paper contributes to understanding effective strategies for addressing student dropout, providing valuable insights for higher education institutions and policymakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Ibsen, Kristoffer & Rosholm, Michael, 2024. "What Works? Interventions Aimed At Reducing Student Dropout in Higher Education," IZA Discussion Papers 16853, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16853
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp16853.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. C. Lockwood Reynolds, 2020. "The Effect of Dormitory Residence during College on Student Outcomes," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(2), pages 249-289.
    2. Aina, Carmen & Baici, Eliana & Casalone, Giorgia & Pastore, Francesco, 2018. "The economics of university dropouts and delayed graduation: a survey," GLO Discussion Paper Series 189, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. French, Robert & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2017. "Behavioral barriers transitioning to college," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 48-63.
    4. Ben Ost & Weixiang Pan & Douglas Webber, 2018. "The Returns to College Persistence for Marginal Students: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from University Dismissal Policies," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(3), pages 779-805.
    5. Tafreschi, Darjusch & Thiemann, Petra, 2016. "Doing it twice, getting it right? The effects of grade retention and course repetition in higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 198-219.
    6. James E. Rosenbaum & Janet Rosenbaum, 2013. "Beyond BA Blinders: Lessons from Occupational Colleges and Certificate Programs for Nontraditional Students," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 153-172, Spring.
    7. Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner, 2014. "Academic Performance and College Dropout: Using Longitudinal Expectations Data to Estimate a Learning Model," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(3), pages 601-644.
    8. Duchini, Emma, 2017. "Is college remedial education a worthy investment? New evidence from a sharp regression discontinuity design," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 36-53.
    9. Masserini, Lucio & Bini, Matilde, 2021. "Does joining social media groups help to reduce students’ dropout within the first university year?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    10. Adam S. Booij & Edwin Leuven & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2017. "Ability Peer Effects in University: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 84(2), pages 547-578.
    11. Jeffrey T. Denning & Eric R. Eide & Kevin J. Mumford & Richard W. Patterson & Merrill Warnick, 2022. "Why Have College Completion Rates Increased?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 1-29, July.
    12. Rachel Fulcher Dawson & Melissa S. Kearney & James X. Sullivan, 2020. "Comprehensive Approaches to Increasing Student Completion in Higher Education: A Survey of the Landscape," NBER Working Papers 28046, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Robert J. Barro, 2013. "Education and Economic Growth," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 14(2), pages 301-328, November.
    14. Susan Dynarski & Lindsay C. Page & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2022. "College Costs, Financial Aid, and Student Decisions," NBER Working Papers 30275, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Darolia, Rajeev, 2014. "Working (and studying) day and night: Heterogeneous effects of working on the academic performance of full-time and part-time students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 38-50.
    16. Todd Stinebrickner & Ralph Stinebrickner, 2012. "Learning about Academic Ability and the College Dropout Decision," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(4), pages 707-748.
    17. Jason M. Lindo & Nicholas J. Sanders & Philip Oreopoulos, 2010. "Ability, Gender, and Performance Standards: Evidence from Academic Probation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 95-117, April.
    18. Seth D. Zimmerman, 2014. "The Returns to College Admission for Academically Marginal Students," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(4), pages 711-754.
    19. Marcus D. Casey & Jeffrey Cline & Ben Ost & Javaeria A. Qureshi, 2018. "Academic Probation, Student Performance, And Strategic Course‐Taking," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(3), pages 1646-1677, July.
    20. Oosterbeek, Hessel & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2014. "Gender peer effects in university: Evidence from a randomized experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 51-63.
    21. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(5), pages 1-9.
    22. Ellis, Jimmy R. & Gershenson, Seth, 2020. "Gender, peer advising, and college success," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    23. Matthew J Page & Joanne E McKenzie & Patrick M Bossuyt & Isabelle Boutron & Tammy C Hoffmann & Cynthia D Mulrow & Larissa Shamseer & Jennifer M Tetzlaff & Elie A Akl & Sue E Brennan & Roger Chou & Jul, 2021. "The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, March.
    24. Jack Mountjoy, 2022. "Community Colleges and Upward Mobility," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(8), pages 2580-2630, August.
    25. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long, 2018. "Mass Instruction or Higher Learning? The Impact of College Class Size on Student Retention and Graduation," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(1), pages 97-118, Winter.
    26. Card, David, 1999. "The causal effect of education on earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 30, pages 1801-1863, Elsevier.
    27. Booth, Alison L. & Cardona-Sosa, Lina & Nolen, Patrick, 2018. "Do single-sex classes affect academic achievement? An experiment in a coeducational university," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 109-126.
    28. Philip Oreopoulos, 2021. "What Limits College Success? A Review and Further Analysis of Holzer and Baum's Making College Work," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 546-573, June.
    29. By Vincenzo Carrieri & Marcello D’Amato & Roberto Zotti, 2015. "On the causal effects of selective admission policies on students’ performances: evidence from a quasi-experiment in a large Italian university," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(4), pages 1034-1056.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rudzani Israel Lumadi, 2025. "Examining first-year student retention in higher education: teaching approaches and their impact on persistence," Annals of the University of Craiova for Journalism, Communication and Management, Department of Communication, Journalism and Education Sciences, University of Craiova, vol. 11(1), pages 96-103, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aina, Carmen & Baici, Eliana & Casalone, Giorgia & Pastore, Francesco, 2018. "The Economics of University Dropouts and Delayed Graduation: A Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 11421, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Aina, Carmen & Baici, Eliana & Casalone, Giorgia & Pastore, Francesco, 2022. "The determinants of university dropout: A review of the socio-economic literature," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Bičáková, Alena & Cortes, Guido Matias & Foley, Kelly & Mazza, Jacopo & McHenry, Peter, 2026. "Unpacking the countercyclicality of post-secondary enrollment in the United States," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    4. Aaron Albert & Nathan Wozny, 2024. "The Impact of Academic Probation: Do Intensive Interventions Help?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 59(3), pages 852-878.
    5. Ghazala Azmat & Jack Britton, 2024. "Labour Market Returns to Higher Education," Sciences Po Economics Publications (main) hal-04709561, HAL.
    6. Ribas, Rafael P. & Sampaio, Breno & Trevisan, Giuseppe, 2020. "Short- and long-term effects of class assignment: Evidence from a flagship university in Brazil," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Turner, Lesley J., 2016. "The returns to higher education for marginal students: Evidence from Colorado Welfare recipients," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 169-184.
    8. Ben Ost & Weixiang Pan & Douglas Webber, 2018. "The Returns to College Persistence for Marginal Students: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from University Dismissal Policies," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(3), pages 779-805.
    9. Aina, Carmen & Baici, Eliana & Casalone, Giorgia & Pastore, Francesco, 2019. "Delayed Graduation and University Dropout: A Review of Theoretical Approaches," IZA Discussion Papers 12601, IZA Network @ LISER.
    10. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Cuffe, Harold E, 2020. "Do Struggling Students Benefit From Continued Student Loan Access? Evidence From University and Beyond," Working Paper Series 21067, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    11. Nicholas A. Bowman & Nayoung Jang, 2022. "What is the Purpose of Academic Probation? Its Substantial Negative Effects on Four-Year Graduation," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(8), pages 1285-1311, December.
    12. David J. Deming & Mikko I. Silliman, 2024. "Skills and Human Capital in the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 32908, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Cavalletti, Barbara & Corsi, Matteo & Persico, Luca & di Bella, Enrico, 2021. "Public university orientation for high-school students. A quasi-experimental assessment of the efficiency gains from nudging better career choices," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    14. Adele H. Marshall & Mariangela Zenga & Aglaia Kalamatianou, 2020. "Academic Students’ Progress Indicators and Gender Gaps Based on Survival Analysis and Data Mining Frameworks," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 1097-1128, October.
    15. Thiemann, Petra, 2017. "The Persistent Effects of Short-Term Peer Groups in Higher Education," IZA Discussion Papers 11024, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Luca Bonacini & Giuseppe Pignataro & Veronica Rattini, 2025. "Tertiary Education Completion and Financial Aid Assistance: Evidence from an Information Experiment," Papers 2507.02560, arXiv.org.
    17. Baker, Rachel & Bettinger, Eric & Jacob, Brian & Marinescu, Ioana, 2018. "The Effect of Labor Market Information on Community College Students’ Major Choice," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 18-30.
    18. Miller, Lois, 2026. "Switching Schools: Effects of College Transfers," IZA Discussion Papers 18568, IZA Network @ LISER.
    19. Heigle, Julia & Pfeiffer, Friedhelm, 2019. "An analysis of selected labor market outcomes of college dropouts in Germany: A machine learning estimation approach. Research report," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 222378.
    20. Sang Yoon (Tim) Lee & Yongseok Shin & Donghoon Lee, 2015. "The Option Value of Human Capital: Higher Education and Wage Inequality," NBER Working Papers 21724, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16853. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.