DETERMINANTS OF DISTANCE EDUCATION DROPOUT: EVIDENCE FOR OPEN UNIVERSITY OF BRAZIL/FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SANTA MARIA COURSES

This research seeks to understand the determinants of student dropout in the courses offered at the Open University of Brazil system at the Federal University of Santa Maria. The research used the following methods: survival function, factorial analysis, and logistic function. Results indicated that male students, with higher levels of income, who live a greater distance from the pole and who travel to it more frequently have a higher probability to drop out. Conversely, greater agreement with the adequacy of academic aspects and lower technological difficulties reduce the chance of dropout. Contrary to the evidence, the adequacy of the non-academic aspects, which refer to the infrastructure, equipment, and functioning of the hubs, increases the likelihood of dropout. However, e variation in the dropout due to the non-academic aspects of the pole is much smaller than the distance and frequency of going to the pole. Therefore, we suggested that the increase in face-to-face activities has a greater impact on the probability of dropout than the physical conditions of the pole.