DROPOUT RATES: Find out when students at Aarhus University drop out of their degree programmes
All faculties at Aarhus University have managed to reduce the dropout rate among first-year students, according to an overview of dropout rates by year between 2019 to 2023.
In this series of articles, Omnibus provides an overview of the dropout rate at AU. The latest data on dropout timing is from 2023:
The last time Omnibus did a similar overview of dropout timing at AU was in 2023, with the latest data from 2021 (the articles are in Danish):
Disclaimer: This text was translated using machine translation / AI and post-edited by Maria Nielsen Pedersen
The latest report, which presents the dropout rates among students enrolled in Bachelor’s degree programmes between 2019-2023, highlights how all five faculties at AU have managed to reduce the dropout rate among first-year students in recent years. Most notably, Technical Sciences has reduced its first-year dropout rate from 24 percent for students enrolled in 2022 to 17 percent in 2023. When Omnibus last reported on the dropout rate, the latest data available was from students enrolled in 2021. At that time, the dropout rate at Natural Sciences was 21 percent. Health, which historically has the lowest dropout rate, had a first-year dropout rate of 9 percent in 2023, compared to 11 percent in 2021. All faculties at AU now have a dropout rate below 20 percent.
Get an overview
Below you will find an overview of when dropouts occur in AU’s Bachelor’s degree programmes. The facts behind the figures can be found at the end of the article. It's particularly worth noting that students who switch programmes within AU are counted as dropouts from the programme they leave. Additionally, students who drop out within the first month are not included in this report.
| Year | Dropout rate 1st year | Dropout rate 2nd year | Dropout rate 3rd year | Number of students enrolled |
| 2019 | 18% | 8% | 3% | 1,830 |
| 2020 | 22% | 9% | 3% | 1,920 |
| 2021 | 23% | 8% | 3% | 1,697 |
| 2022 | 18% | 9% | 1,644 | |
| 2023 | 17% | 1,614 |
| Year | Dropout rate 1st year | Dropout rate 2nd year | Dropout rate 3rd year | Number of students enrolled |
| 2019 | 20% | 5% | 2% | 2,368 |
| 2020 | 20% | 4% | 2% | 2,330 |
| 2021 | 21% | 6% | 2% | 2,149 |
| 2022 | 20% | 6% | 2,110 | |
| 2023 | 17% | 2,198 |
| Year | Dropout rate 1st year | Dropout rate 2nd year | Dropout rate 3rd year | Number of students enrolled |
| 2019 | 9% | 5% | 2% | 785 |
| 2020 | 9% | 4% | 1% | 802 |
| 2021 | 11% | 5% | 2% | 810 |
| 2022 | 8% | 6% | 803 | |
| 2023 | 9% | 875 |
| Year | Dropout rate 1st year | Dropout rate 2nd year | Dropout rate 3rd year | Number of students enrolled |
| 2019 | 20% | 10% | 3% | 749 |
| 2020 | 21% | 11% | 4% | 922 |
| 2021 | 22% | 10% | 3% | 759 |
| 2022 | 23% | 8% | 725 | |
| 2023 | 19% | 733 |
| Year | Dropout rate 1st year | Dropout rate 2nd year | Dropout rate 3rd year | Number of students enrolled |
| 2019 | 20% | 10% | 2% | 1,086 |
| 2020 | 22% | 9% | 3% | 1,207 |
| 2021 | 21% | 10% | 3% | 1,130 |
| 2022 | 24% | 10% | 1,125 | |
| 2023 | 17% | 1,223 |
About the figures:
The figures cover AU's Bachelor's degree programmes, including professional Bachelor's degree programmes.
The data covers students enrolled between 2019 and 2023 and is organised by faculty. Dropout rates are reported for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years.
The years refer to 'Admissions as of 1 October'. This means students who commenced their studies on 1 March and 1 October of the respective year, admitted through the Coordinated Enrolment System, including second round admissions. Note that students who dropped out within the first month are not included in the report. Late registrations are included.
Please note that students who apply and are admitted to another degree programme are counted as dropouts from their original degree programme. This applies even if they stay at AU and complete the other degree programme. In the new degree programme, they will be counted as having completed it.
Note that dropouts can be initiated either by the student or by the administration. Administrative withdrawal can be due to reasons such as admission to another degree programme, failure to pass the first-year exam, inactivity, exceeding the maximum degree completion time, or using all examination attempts for a test without passing.
Changes to admission requirements during the period may have affected the number of admissions.
Source: AU Student Administration and Services