Progression in Higher Education: The Value of Multi-Variate Analysis

Abstract

While patterns of access to, and participation, in higher education are now well established in the Irish context, less is known about progression once students have entered the third level sector. For the first time, data gathered from all institutions funded by the Higher Education Authority allow us to examine the factors influencing student progression in Irish higher education institutions. Uniquely, these data track the full cohort of new entrants to higher education in 2007/08, to see if they progressed to second year in 2008/09. Drawing on these data, a recent study† examined student progression from first to second year across higher education institutions, sectors and courses. The study found that an average of 15 per cent of new entrants were not present one year later. Further, the results showed large differences across institutions – for example, the percentage of honours degree students not progressing ranged from 3 to 25 per cent across institutions.