Abstract
<p>Non-completion among university students is a common phenomenon in many parts of the world. Many causes of this problem have been advanced and among them are institutional and individual reasons like financial ability, gender and motivation to complete studies. Psychological distress though not investigated thoroughly has been cited as one of the problems leading to non-completion. The study sought to establish the prevalence of non-completion among postgraduate students in selected public universities in Kenya. Weiner Attribution theory (1985) informed the study. The study adopted a correlation research design, and it was conducted in two selected public universities in Uasin Gishu and Nairobi counties targeting a population of 945 postgraduate students. A sample of (N=273) was obtained from the two selected public universities through systematic random sampling. The study used questionnaires, focus group discussions and document analysis in collecting data. Reliability of the questionnaire was established using Split half method from a pilot study conducted in Uasin Gishu County. Statistical package for the social sciences SPSS 23 was also used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics to analyze demographic data while Pearson correlation was employed to test the relationship between psychological distress and non-completion. Regression analysis was used to clarify the nature of relationship with the variable. Findings indicated an average non-completion rate of 2.5 years with most students citing financial constraints as the primary cause of their non-completion. The study recommended that students who wished to further their studies should first establish a financial channel or safe for the education journey before they registered for their studies. This would ensure that they would avoid dropping out of school due to a lack of school fees. The study further recommended that students should choose a study model that would favour their schedules to ensure that they did not go through a lot of stress trying to accomplish several tasks simultaneously. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0972/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>
Highlights
Non-completion of studies is being encountered globally today at a very high rate
The study adopted a correlation research design and it was conducted in two selected public universities in Uasin Gishu and Nairobi counties targeting a population of 945 postgraduate students
This study examined the relationship between psychological distress and non-completion, and understanding finances as an intervening variable was important because it had a big role to play in the completion of the studies
Summary
Non-completion of studies is being encountered globally today at a very high rate. Researchers worldwide have provided contradicting reasons for prevalence of noncompletion among students. In US, researchers have suggested a noncompletion rate of 60% and revealed gaps in the higher education system that should serve to meet student’s needs. According to a study conducted in US reported a high prevalence of non-completion among students. It found out that up to 50% of their students did not complete their studies (Barefoot, 2014). A Canadian study by Lindsay (2013), reported non-completion in graduate programs to have been a point of societal, institutional and individual level concerns. Upon entry to graduate school demographic and background, characteristics such as being married and having children were associated with a reduced likelihood of completing school. A student was more effective when they could balance their social, psychological and scholarly education (Anderson, Guan & Koc, 2016)
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