Student Retention Models in Online Higher Education- A Narrative Review of Models from Past Two Decades

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Aarti Pushp Rawal, Rogayah A Razak

Abstract

Introduction: Student attrition in tertiary education has been an ongoing topic of discussion. Attrition studies in Online Higher Education (OHE) have shown that dropout rates in online programs are significantly higher as compared to traditional programs.
Method: This narrative review focuses on three different student retention and attrition models developed during the past two decades in the context of OHE. The objective is to provide researchers, educators, and policymakers with a comprehensive review, enabling them to identify recurring patterns and themes in the attrition phenomenon; and consequently, implement sustainable student retention agendas in their respective institutions. The models reviewed include Alfred Rovai’s (2003) Composite Persistence Model, Park and Chois’s (2009) The Revised Model of Dropouts from Distance Learning in Organization, and Choi’s (2016) Conceptual Model for Adult Dropout in Online Degree Programs. Thirty articles published between 2015-2021 on the illustrated models were collected from multiple online databases such as Google Scholar, Emerald Insight, and ERIC. Further, thirteen of them that met the inclusion criteria were reviewed for this paper.
Conclusion: Studies suggested that students often drop out on account of multiple reasons such as academic abilities, physical constraints, financial assistance, peer encouragement, interactions, motivation, and academic achievements. Lastly, while there is a correlation between academic failure and student attrition, students often withdraw for a wide array of reasons aside from mere academic performance

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