Drop out from a university counselling service: a quantitative and qualitative study

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to examine the characteristics of students who withdrew from a university counselling service in northern Italy. Differences found in the socio-demographic characteristics of counselling completers and drop outs and in the scores obtained in questionnaires administered at the outset were analysed. Furthermore, in order to identify reasons for dropping out, a qualitative approach was also used. The results suggest that premature termination is not a unitary phenomenon and that drop outs are a heterogeneous group. This study also shows that it is important not to always consider drop outs as a negative outcome of university counselling services. Additional research on drop out is needed to increase the capacity of university counselling services to serve students more effectively.