Factors Of Graduate Students' Attrition And Retention In Occidental Mindoro State College Graduate School
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51601/ijersc.v3i2.326Abstract
This case study was conducted to determine graduate students' attrition and retention factors and find
ways to increase retention rates in the Occidental Mindoro State College (OMSC) Graduate School. A
total of 31 purposively selected graduate students participated in the study. They were selected using
the following inclusion criteria: they must be a graduate student of OMSC from AY 2015-2020,
enrolled in any of the graduate school programs, has temporarily filed for a leave absence ( for
attrition participants), and has finished their master's program ( for retention participants). A selfmade interview guide was the main instrument used in gathering data for the study. The data
collected were coded to find frequencies of the themes out of the raw qualitative data. The study was
conducted from February to August 2020 at the OMSC Main Campus, Labangan, Occidental
Mindoro. It was found that financial constraints, school-work conflict, and personal problems were
the factors identified for graduate students' attrition. On the other hand, job promotion, personal
growth, and motivation were the factors for retention. At the same time, institutional and faculty
support was the suggested way to increase graduate students' retention rate. It can be concluded that
financial constraints hinder graduate students from persisting and finishing their chosen degrees.
Work-related factor promotes graduate student retention. Strategies employed by Higher Education
Institutions play a vital role in increasing graduate students' retention rate.
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