Factors and Practices Improving Student Completion Rate: A Comparison of Two Distance Learning Courses

Numerous approaches have been attempted to tackle the problem of student attrition in open and distance education. Many of them concentrated on rectifying factors that contribute to the attrition. Literature has sometimes overlooked reasons that promote student retention. To gain insights from successful examples, this study compares the characteristics of a nursing course with a 91% completion rate and a mathematics course with 46%. Both courses are 10 credit foundation courses, but they possess significant differences. For instance, the nursing course is designed mainly for a professional programme and the backgrounds of its students are very similar. On the contrary, the mathematics course serves a number of programmes and the backgrounds of its students can be very different. By analysing the characteristics of the two courses, this study aims to identify factors and practices that have a positive impact on course completion. In addition, some recommendations are made following the analysis to enhance students quality, strengthen personal support, maintain students motivation and enhance their persistence, and finally, removing unnecessary hurdles.