Differences among online student profiles taking a break: factors for continuance intention and effective re-enrolment vs dropout

Abstract

Taking into account that the flexibility of online higher education allows students to take breaks, the intention to continue is analyzed of those students that have not enrolled in the second semester. Thanks to a longitudinal analysis, re-enrolment intention can be compared with the effective restart of the studies in the third semester. An e-mail survey was sent to 1,216 non-active students and bivariate analysis is used to explore the relation of the variables collected with intention and effective re-enrolment. Results show that satisfaction with course-programme variables such as learning resources and the support received or the learning platform are very closely related with re-enrolment intention. Additionally, the latter turns out to be one of the necessary although not sole conditions for effective re-enrolment. This knowledge makes it possible for institutions to design personalized actions to re-engage students who are taking a break.