Addressing Student Attrition in An Open Distance E-Learning Undergraduate Program: The Case of The University of The Philippines Open University Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies Program

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Student attrition is indicative of how the educational system of academic institutions fairs. Addressing student attrition is a greater challenge for academic institutions solely focused on delivering Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL) education. A plethora of studies have found that attrition rates in the ODeL set-ups are higher compared to the conventional face-to-face physical arrangement (Moore et al., 2017; Rotar, 2022; Shaw et al., 2016; Muljana et al., 2019). This high rate of online attrition is rooted in the clamor of non-traditional students for more online courses that have significantly changed the course of growth of online learning. To address this attrition issue, this study aims to describe and examine the student attrition in the University of the Philippines Open University Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Studies (BAMS) Program during the academic years covering 2018 to 2023. Based on available data, the primary reasons for student withdrawal in the BAMS Program is transferring to another university. This holds for all the academic years within the five-year coverage of this study. Other factors contributing to withdrawal include financial constraints, conflict in schedules, mental health issues, migration, exceeding residency limits, and adaptation challenges to nontraditional distance learning environments. Generally, the results of this study showed that there was a low attrition rate among the BAMS students. Thus, this study advances further study that would delve deeper into the reasons behind student withdrawals from the BAMS Program by using qualitative methods. Additionally, incorporating statistical analysis can reveal associations among variables, helping identify root causes of attrition. The study’s limitation lies in its focus solely on students withdrawing from the program rather than those shifting within the university, which could offer further insights for program enhancement.