Tertiary student retention

Proportion of students still enrolled in or successfully completed a tertiary qualification.

What We Have Found 

Fifty-eight percent of all students starting a bachelors degree in 2002 had either completed or were still enrolled in 2006

Why This Is Important

'Retention', as used here, refers to whether a student continues in study until completion, and includes those who have successfully completed a tertiary qualification.  As such, it is the complement of attrition or drop out, that is, of students who leave study without completing.

Retention is a useful indicator of the internal efficiency or quality of the tertiary education system.  It should be recognised, however, that there are many factorsn outside of the tertiary education system that impact on whether a student persists in study until completion.  The concepts of retention and completion are not always good markers of quality, and need to be read in the context of other indicators.

Retention as measured here follows various cohorts of students and looks at what percentages of them stay in study until they have successfully completed.  As such, retention involves the notions of both re-enrolment and completion.  Retention differs from re-enrolment in the sense that students who complete and no longer study are counted as being retained, but are not counted as being re-enrolled.

How We Are Going

There has been little change since 2000 in the proportion of students who dropped out of bachelors degree or post graduate qualifications in the same year they started.  Similarly, for an undergraduate diploma there has been very little change.  In contrast, the one year-retention rates for both level 1 to 3 and level 4 certificates both decreased markedly since 2003.  A strong labour market, with a low unemployment rate, has meant that work is a viable and preferred alternative for those with no or only low-level school-level qualifications.

One-year retention rates for selected qualification levels and sub-sectors for domestic students starting a qualification at a public provider between 2000 and 2005 

Fifty-four percent of New Zealanders beginning a tertiary qualification in 2002 had either completed or were still enrolled in 2006.  Students beginning a bachelors degree or post graduate qualification in 2002 were far more likely to have either completed or be still enrolled in 2006 than those who began an undergraduate qualification in 2002.

In particular, those starting an undergraduate diploma (37%) had the lowest five-year retention rate.  Fifty-eight percent of New Zealand students beginning a bachelors degree in 2002 had either completed or were still enrolled in 2006.

Asian students had the highest five-year retention rate after starting study over all qualification levels (67%), while the overall retention rate for Māori was the second highest at 55%.  The five-year retention rate for European/Pākehā was slightly lower at 53%.

Five-year retention rates for domestic students starting a qualification at a public provider in 2002, by ethnic group and qualification level 

However, Māori and Pasifika retention rates for bachelors degrees and above were considerably lower than Asian and European/Pākehā students.  For every 100 students in each ethnic group who started a bachelors degree in 2002, 67 Asian students had either completed or were still enrolled in 2006, compared with 60 for European/Pākehā, and 47 for both Māori and Pasifika.

Five-year retention rates for domestic students starting a qualification at a public provider in 2002, by gender and qualification level