An Integrated Approach for Fighting Dropout and Enhancing Students' Satisfaction in Higher Education

Abstract

Dropout and student's learning satisfaction are challenges that every higher education institution is facing all over the world. Each university conducts researches for comprehending the essentials of what determines student's dropout on one hand, and on the other hand, what determines student's learning satisfaction. Such endeavours provide great management insights into developing effective strategies that allows universities to create new opportunities and value for their students and instructors. This paper presents an integrated approach achieved within a pilot center for educational and professional development called CADEP. The CADEP acronym comes from the Spanish Centros de Apoyoy Desarrollo Educativoy Profesional, and has been setup in Bogota, Colombia at the Francisco Jose de Caldas University in the framework of the ACACIA project. The CADEP pilot represents a best practice example for fighting dropout and enhancing student's learning satisfaction in universities.