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Between 60 and 80 percent of students in some third-level computer science and engineering courses are dropping out, new data shows.
Young men with low Leaving Cert scores are at particularly high risk of not completing their college courses.
The findings are contained in a Higher Education Authority (HEA) study that tracked the progress of thousands of students starting third-level courses over a 10-year period.
Despite concerns about high dropout rates in some areas, the study authors say Ireland compares well internationally overall.
Overall, three out of four college students who entered higher education between 2008/09 and 2010/11 completed their courses and graduated.
Completion rates were highest in teacher training schools, followed by the university sector and institutes of technology.
Education had the highest completion rates (up to 94%) in areas such as health and wellness, social sciences, agriculture, and veterinary medicine.
However, computing had the lowest completion rates overall, with rates nationwide at around 55 percent.
Other fields with particularly low completion rates were engineering, manufacturing, and construction and services.
The lowest completion rates occurred among ordinary degree or higher certificate courses (known as level six and seven) in areas such as computer science and engineering in institutes of technology.
Civil Engineering
Some of the highest non-compliance rates included construction and civil engineering at Letterkenny IT (86%), biology and biochemistry at IT Tralee (81%), and computer science at Athlone IT (67%).
A significant gender gap is also emerging in the number of students completing their college courses.
The female completion rate was 81% compared to 70% for men.
Additionally, women outperformed men on average in most fields of study, both in terms of completion rates and final grades.
The study also shows that high points for Leaving Cert are associated with a much higher probability of completion, while low points are associated with a much lower probability of completion.
Just under half of those who entered college with less than 300 Leaving Cert points completed their course, for example, compared to 93 percent of those who entered with more than 500 points.
Higher scores in math and English Leaving Cert were also found to be strong predictors of performance in higher education.
There is also evidence that students with higher scores from disadvantaged or Deis schools were more likely to complete their courses compared to students from grind schools at similar points.
The data also shows that many students who did not complete their course returned to complete other courses.
Graduate
For example, of the nearly 28,000 non-completers that were tracked in the study, more than 17 percent graduated from another Irish higher education institution.
This proportion varied considerably and was higher in the university (26%) compared to the institutes of technology (13%).
Dr. Vivienne Patterson of the Higher Education Authority said data is vital for future planning to ensure students of all abilities have the best higher education experience, regardless of the field they study.
The Higher Education Technology Association, which represents institutes of technology, said it was clear that students with lower Leaving Cert points and from disadvantaged backgrounds were “particularly vulnerable” and required more support.
“This should inform the targeting of funding to ensure that those students who wish to complete their programs receive additional supports and opportunities to do so,” said Dr. Joseph Ryan, the association’s executive director.
He added that while the proportion of students entering institutes of technology with less than 400 Leaving Cert points was particularly high (82 percent), about 66 percent of students complete their programs.
This, he said, was a testament to the additional supports and tuition that are put in place to help students with fewer Leaving Cert points or low math scores to make successful progress.
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