University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Online student attrition in blended learning programs

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Online student attrition in blended learning programs

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Content Running head: STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 1
ONLINE STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS

by

Binh Tran

A Dissertation presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Education

December 2015

Copyright 2015 Binh Tran

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 2
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Tracy Tambascia, for the guidance and support
through this dissertation process. She provided enough flexibilities and more importantly
feedback and deadlines when it was needed most to get to this point of achieving my academic
and professional goals. Without a doubt, I am a better academic leader for this experience. I
would like to thank Dr. Ershaghi and Dr. Hong for their valuable feedback and contributions to
this dissertation. Their experience in the area of online programs helped refine this study.
I would like to thank the friends I have made as part of my cohort who have motivated
me to write, provided feedback, and kept me company on numerous writing sessions. In
particular I would like to thank all my writing partners throughout this process; Dominic, Linda,
Ali, and Becky. There is no substitute for the motivation and company of your peers and special
thanks goes to Ali for writing with me almost every night for the past year.
Most significantly, I could not have done this without the support and understanding of
my family. My wonderful wife Alexandra, who has watched over our home and kids while I was
focusing on my courses and study; and thank you to my three beautiful daughters who let daddy
work without creating too many distractions.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 3
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 2
List of Tables 5
List of Figures 6
Abstract 7
Chapter One: Overview of the Study 8
Introduction 8
Statement of the Problem 12
Purpose of the Study 13
Research Questions 15
Significance of the Study 15
Limitations 16
Delimitations 17
Definition of Terms 17
Chapter Two: Literature Review 18
Introduction 18
Research Questions 19
The Availability of Online and Blended Learning 19
Blended Learning 22
The Benefits of Blended Programs 24
The Role of Student Affairs in Supporting Traditional, On Campus Students 25
The Role of Student Affairs in Supporting Online Students 29
Tinto’s (1987) Model of Institutional Departure 34
Social Integration and Community 36
Conclusion 40
Chapter Three: Methodology 41
Research Questions 43
Sample 43
Overview of Big West University’s Blended Learning Network 44
Defining Attrition 44
Data Collection 45
Participants 47
Instrumentation 49
Interview Protocol 49
Document Analysis Protocol 50
Validity 50
Role of Researcher and Bias 51
Conclusion 52
Chapter Four: Results 53
Findings 54
Participant Profiles 54
Question one: What are the factors that contribute to online student attrition in blended
learning programs? 59
Academic Interactions 59
Interactions With Faculty 60
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 4
Interactions With Student Affairs 61
Social Interactions 62
Professional Interests 64
Competing Commitments 65
Question Two: How Do Student Affairs Support Online Students in a Blended Learning
Program? 68
Advising and Helping 69
Academic Support and Coordination 71
Student Learning and Development 72
Question Three: What Type Of Support Services Address Retention for Online Students
in Blended Learning Programs? 73
Chapter Five: Discussion 79
Discussion of Findings 80
Professional Goals and Networks 80
Faculty Advisors 83
Student Affairs Redefined 84
Summary of Findings 87
Implications for Practice 89
Recommendations 89
Recommendation 1: Create a Communication Plan for Online Students who Stop
Enrolling in Courses 89
Recommendation 2: Improve Administrative and Academic Coordination 90
Recommendation 3: Create Peer-Group Activities for Courses, Programs, and
Professional Interests 91
Recommendation 4: Discuss Financial Aid Options and Professional Outcomes 92
Future Research 92
Conclusion 93
References 95
Appendix A: Student Affairs Competency Areas Highlights 99
Appendix B: Recruitment Letter 106
Appendix C: Information Sheet 107
Appendix D: Interview Protocol 112

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 5
List of Tables
Table 1: Data Collection Process 46
Table 2: Student Participant Demographics 49
Table 3: Summary of Student Responses 76

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 6
List of Figures
Figure 1: Tinto’s (1987) Model of Institutional Departure 35
Figure 2: Interconnectedness of Student Learning (NASPA, 2004, p. 14) 38

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 7
Abstract
This study focused on online student attrition in a blended learning program and factors
that contributed to them leaving the institution as well as the role of student affairs in supporting
the online and on campus students. This study applied Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional
departure and evaluated how the social and academic systems affected students’ decision to
leave the institution and identified conflicts in this system related to students’ external
commitments and academic requirements. Findings from this study indicated that online students
who were working full time left the program due to their external commitments from their jobs
and personal lives. Student affairs advisors and faculty can improve coordination to better
support online students and provide reasonable flexibilities with respect to students’ external
commitments. The role of student affairs should be redefined to provide clearer services and
support to students in blended programs, especially in the areas of faculty coordination and
course planning.
Keywords: online student attrition, blended learning program, student affairs

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 8
CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Introduction
Higher education has seen a tremendous growth in courses and programs offered online
in the past decade. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveyed over 4,200
degree granting, postsecondary institutions in the United States and found that 66% offered some
form of online or blended education courses in 2006. There were over 12 million enrollments in
these courses during that academic year (Parsad, Lewis, & Tice, 2008). Over 50% of university
administrators report that online education was critical to the long term strategy of their
institution (Allen & Seaman, 2011). The most common reasons reported by institutions for
offering courses online included meeting student demands for flexible schedules, providing
college access to those unable to travel to a campus, and increasing student enrollment. More
recently, massive online open courses or MOOCs have been enrolling significant numbers of
online students into a wide range of courses and subject matter for noncredit and credit.
One specific type of program offering mentioned in the NCES statistics related to
blended learning. Blended learning programs combine traditional, face-to-face classroom
instruction with Internet technologies such as lecture videos and collaboration tools to enable
students to take courses on campus, fully online, or some combination of on campus and online
(Parsad et al., 2008). The majority of enrollments in blended programs were in online only
courses (77%), but a significant percentage of course offerings are through some form of hybrid
or blended online formats (12%). Approximately 62% of the courses offered online were at the
undergraduate level and 52% were offered at the graduate or professional level (Parsad, et al.,
2008). In 2012, U.S. News and World Report began ranking online programs at colleges and
universities for the first time. The growth in online student enrollments and rankings highlighted
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 9
internal and external pressures for university administrators to create or grow the availability of
online programs and increase revenue and create effective strategies to support online students.
Research showed that some educators believe the best approach between traditional and
online programs are those that utilize both face-to-face and online technologies in a blended
learning environment to serve traditional on campus and online students (Dziuban, Hartman, &
Moskal, 2004; Mackay & Stockport, 2006). Approximately 1.4 million students were enrolled in
blended learning programs in 2006, highlighting the importance of these programs (Parsad, et al.,
2008). The blended model refers to courses that combine traditional face-to-face classroom
instruction with technologies that enable online learning. Blended programs provide support to
traditional on campus students and online students through classroom and Internet delivery
methods. Blended programs can be taught in traditional classrooms equipped with lecture
capture and remote interactivity and uses of online instructional materials and interactivity.
Online and blended learning programs have become formal offerings in many
universities and part of the increasing adoption and integration of technology in education
(Joerns & Leinhardt, 2006). Other surveys related to online and blended course delivery have
shown that about 55% of all reported institutions offered at least one blended course (Allen,
Seaman, & Garrett, 2007). Blended learning programs provide several benefits to the institution
such as flexibility for students and faculty related to course schedules (Allen & Seaman, 2011).
Students enrolled in blended learning programs tend to perform better than face-to-face
counterparts (Detwiler, 2008). However, online students may be at a disadvantage with regards
to student services that support their success as their absence from classes may not be noticed
versus the physical absence of students in face-to-face programs.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 10
The growth in students enrolling in online education programs highlighted an important
area of student attrition that is rarely studied. The national, 6 year graduation rate for full-time
undergraduate students at 4-year institutions is approximately 58%. This means that 42% of
these students did not graduate from their admitted degree program within 6 years (NCES,
2012). Small gains have been made in this area of student attrition that was extensively reviewed
by Tinto (1987) years ago when it was reported that 36% of college students did not graduate.
Student attrition data for online programs is scarcely available making the review of student
attrition for online and blended programs even more important. Online student attrition should be
a critical issue for administrators and student affairs personnel given the significant number of
students enrolled in online or blended learning programs and the potential tuition revenue loss.
Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure provides a critical framework to address
online student attrition as it examines the impact of external communities and the significance of
the academic and social systems in higher education. Ultimately, the goal of this model is to help
institutions look closer at this important constituent of their student body and create retention
plans to better support their educational goals. If the attrition rates for online students is
comparable to those of traditional students (NCES, 2012), then university administrators and
student affairs should pay special attention to this segment of the student body considering the
financial impact on universities.
This study reviewed the literature related to student attrition using Tinto’s (1987) model
of institutional departure as a framework. While there is a lack of literature examining the online
student attrition, Tinto’s model served as a method to examine the reasons behind online student
attrition. Additionally, this study reviewed traditional areas for student affairs and how they
operate in new educational paradigms such as blended and online learning. Studies and literature
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 11
related to online students in either blended or purely online programs was reviewed and provided
insights on this unique group of students for student affairs considerations.
The role of student affairs in supporting online students is a critical area to study given
the number of student enrollments in blended learning programs (Parsad, et. al., 2008).
Reviewing the basic foundations of student affairs is important especially in reviewing core
competencies emerging support strategies for online students. Particular focus on contrasting the
differences of student affairs for traditional and online students is needed to identify strategies
and patterns unique to supporting online learners.
Big West University (pseudonym) offers a blended learning program in engineering
through their Blended Learning Network. This program offers graduate level master’s degree to
on campus and online students. This blended learning program provides rich Internet based
technologies to both on campus students and online students, synchronously and asynchronously,
inside and outside of the classroom. Students have the option to attend classes on campus, fully
online, or using a combination of on campus and online options. The blended learning services
allow traditional on campus students access to several E-learning tools such as course
management, access to recorded lecture videos and notes, as well as online interactive tools with
other students. Online students are supported remotely but also have the option to visit the
campus and attend classes in person. This study focused on the online students who interact with
their courses online or in NCES terms, reduced in class seat time (Parsad et al., 2008) and their
evaluation of support services. Most literature referring to online students concerns fully online
programs where there is no option of any campus residency or class attendance (Taylor &
Holley, 2009).

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 12
Statement of the Problem
Universities and colleges have created online learning programs at a significant pace over
the last 10 years (Allen & Seaman, 2011). Many university administrators look at online
programs and enrollments as a solution to provide more flexibility and access to more students
and increase revenue (Parsad et al., 2008There is very little research available in the area of
online student attrition for online and blended programs.
Moreover, while there is some literature about student services for online students, there
is little research about how student affairs personnel support students enrolled in blended
learning programs to prevent attrition. Educause highlighted several advantages of blended
learning programs to reach an online audience but failed to identify how student affairs
differentiate support services for on campus and online students (Dziuban et al., 2004).
The role of student affairs in online education programs is often “limited to the discussion
of a narrow set of student services” (Dare, Zapata, & Thomas, 2005, p. 39). These discussions
are also focused at the program level and do not often reflect strategies and challenges at the
institutional level for centralized student support services and collaboration. There is little
information about how an institution provides centralized services and support for online
students. Literature examining student success in online programs often overlooks the effective
strategies for supporting online students versus equivalent strategies for traditional student
support (Taylor & Holley, 2009).
NASPA (2004) discussed the importance of ‘Learning Reconsidered’ and highlighted the
changing landscape of higher education that challenges current and prior notions of effective
student support strategies. As more universities look towards implementing blended learning
programs for online students it becomes more important to understand student affairs
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 13
implications and look at the motivations and perceptions of these online students and particularly
of those that left the institutional system. Students choose to leave college for many reasons and
this phenomenon of online student attrition is not well understood. Many assumptions are also
made about the characteristics of learners that may also be complicated due to differences in
adult learning (Knowles, 1988).
Purpose of the Study
This study looked at factors related to online student attrition in blended learning
programs and the strategies of student affairs in providing support services to these students.
Findings from this study will help university administrators and student affairs identify effective
strategies to support online learning students in blended programs and minimize student attrition.
This study also looked at the perceptions and motivations of online learners related to support
services and the importance of community or social integration for online learners. This study
aims to provide additional research to the small yet growing literature on effective strategies to
supporting online students in blended and online learning programs.
This study used Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure to focus on online
students in a blended learning program that left the institutional system. Tinto’s model was
critical to this study because it looks at both the social and intellectual integration conditions for
which continued persistence in college is needed. This model also looked at the formal and
informal systems within an institution to evaluate how students are affected and how external
forces played a role in a student’s decision to leave the institutional system.
The Blended Learning Network provides graduate degrees and enrolls many adult
learners. While Tinto’s framework focused primarily on undergraduate students, it provides a
critical view of how social and academic systems affect online learners. This study reviewed the
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 14
extent these systems must be tightly integrated within Big West University through student and
staff interviews. The theory of andragogy looks at the key differences between adult and
adolescent learners and puts focus on programs that promote competency and relevancy,
particularly skills and vocation (Knowles, 1988), and those differences were also relevant to this
study and its findings. The self-directedness and need for practical applications for education
programs is an important consideration for adults in online learning programs as well (Detwiler,
2008; Fisher & Baird, 2005; Taylor & Holley, 2009). It is the aim of this study to provide a
better understanding of online student attrition and use Tinto’s framework to identify the social
and intellectual factors that may affect online student attrition.
As online learning programs grew over the past 10 years, it signaled a change in the
programming efforts to attract online students (Allen & Seaman, 2011). Online programs were
created to allow flexibility to a busy adult demographic while expanding tuition revenue for
universities. Online students generally did not need the same traditional support in terms of
personal development and growth; they were narrowly focused on their academic requirements
and their learning and support needs are different (Hirt et al., 2003; NASPA, 2004; Taylor &
Holley, 2009). The growth of online programs requires a shift in focus to assess the varying
expectations and requirements for effective student services, particularly to reduce attrition.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 15
Research Questions
1. What are the factors that contribute to online student attrition in blended learning
programs?
2. How do student affairs support online students in a blended learning program?
3. What type of support services address retention for online students in blended learning
programs?
Significance of the Study
In 2006, there were at least 14 million enrollments in online or blended courses (Parsad,
Lewis, & Tice, 2008). Many university administrators believe that online education is critical to
the long-term strategy of universities (Allen & Seaman, 2011). As the number of online
programs increase the challenges with supporting the online students becomes a primary concern
for student affairs. This study will be important for student affairs and administrators looking at
the broad issues related to online student attrition. Since there is little information regarding
online student attrition, this study will contribute more research into this phenomenon and utilize
both the phenomenological and grounded theory approach. This study used a phenomenological
approach to focus on the shared experiences of the online students who left the program. Because
no existing theories have been developed related to online student attrition, a grounded theory
approach was used to allow findings to emerge from the data (Moustakas, 1994). Additionally,
grounded theory allowed for a systematic approach of inquiry that developed new interpretations
and allowed for flexible guidelines for collecting and analyzing qualitative data to construct new
theories from the data found in this study (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007). By contextualizing Tinto’s
framework, this study examined the extent social and academic integration were important at Big
West University and discovered the students’ main concerns and beliefs about this integration
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 16
along with other factors not yet identified that led to online student attrition (Strauss & Corbin,
1994).
This study seeks to further explore the area of online student attrition by interviewing
online students in a phenomenological approach to address the research questions and provided a
richer understanding of this area. This study looked at the support strategies used at Big West
University’s Blended Learning Network to identify key strategies to support face-to-face and
online students and how services were differentiated for these student populations. University
administrators can look at the impact of online student attrition and work with student affairs
professionals to develop services and plans to improve retention. Student affairs can differentiate
services for traditional face-to-face students and online students and focus on identifying services
specific to online student engagement and success.
This study also provided more research in the area of blended learning. Blended learning
combines face-to-face instruction with online instruction but the definitions and examples often
cloud the online learning landscape. There are multiple conceptualizations of blended learning
ranging from the use of instructional technologies to differences of how to deliver blended
learning programs to mixed student audiences. This study focused on a specific blended learning
program and literature around this topic to add further definitions and examples in the field of
blended learning.
Limitations
This study used a phenomenological approach to understand the experiences of the online
student in the Blended Learning Network. The researcher in this study was limited by this
approach because researcher bias could influence data interpretation particularly if the researcher
did not explore experiential experiences of the subjects (Polkinghorne, 1989). This approach
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 17
focused on individual experiences as opposed to generating a central group experience or
finding.
Delimitations
The delimitations of this study were chosen by the researcher in order to provide rich
descriptions from online students who stopped enrolling in courses in the Blended Learning
Network. This study was limited to those online students interviewed as well as student affair
professionals interviewed.
Definition of Terms
The following key terms are used throughout this study:
Blended Learning (Dziuban et al., 2004): Pedagogical approach that integrates traditional
face-to-face instruction with online instruction. This study focused on a blended learning
program that supports both face-to-face students and fully online students.
Attrition: Online students that stopped taking classes for at least one academic year will
be identified in the group of students that left the university system.
Retention: Online student services that promote matriculation.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 18
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Over the last 10 years, online learning has become a significant university offering and
has moved beyond traditional university extension capacities (Larreamendy-Joerns & Leinhardt,
2006). With the spread of the Internet, online learning has become widely accepted as more than
66% of U.S. universities and colleges now offer some form of online learning (Parsad et al.,
2008). Online learning has evolved to integrate several modes of instruction from the past
including e-learning, just-in-time learning, corporate training, and other methodologies
(Larreamendy-Joerns & Leinhardt, 2006).
Blended learning, in which students have the option to attend classes on campus or
online, is one methodology that supports the online students and online learning. In 2006, at least
55% of academic institutions offered one blended course (Allen et al., 2007). The availability of
blended learning programs compared to purely online programs adds to a complex landscape of
online education. Therefore, defining blended learning will be important in the context of
differentiating student services for varying student audiences that range from attending classes
on campus and online.
Examining social integration and community helps us better understand the learning
environment unique to blended learning programs and how online learners value community
within the institution. An understanding of Tinto’s (1987) model for institutional departure
provided a critical framework with which to look at online student attrition and the role of
student affairs in supporting this population.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 19
Research Questions
1. What are the factors that contribute to online student attrition in blended learning
programs?
2. How do student affairs support online students in a blended learning program?
3. What type of support services address retention for online students in blended learning
programs?
The Availability of Online and Blended Learning
The emergence of online and blended learning programs over the past decade has been
dramatic for institutions of higher education (Allen, Seaman, & Garrett, 2007; Larreamendy-
Joerns & Leinhardt, 2006). Institutions have embraced online education that has increased
outreach, revenue, and scholarly interests. Online learning, particularly as online education
pedagogy, has become an important aspect of teaching for many universities. It is seen less as a
form of continuing education or university extension and has become and fixture of formal
education (Larreamendy-Joerns & Leinhardt, 2006). Larreamendy-Joerns and Leinhard (2006)
identify several reasons for the emergence of online education. The first evidence is the number
of prestigious universities such as Columbia, Yale, Stanford, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon
University supporting online learning initiatives and programs to deliver courses and
instructional support to online learners. Other evidence points towards the increasing role and
adoption of technology in education, particularly Internet technologies and the commitment of
universities to adopt and support innovation.
The availability of massive online open courses, or MOOCs, from institutions such as
Stanford, MIT, Georgia Tech, Berkeley, among other notable institutions have stirred significant
attention and discussion about online courses. The majority of MOOCs are noncredit and enroll
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 20
students in the tens of thousands. The American Council on Education (ACE) recently
recommended five MOOCs for credit (Kolowich, 2013). These five courses vary in introduction
topics and are taught from Duke University, University of California at Irvine, and the University
of Pennsylvania. There are 1,800 member colleges that ACE advises but each individual
institution must decide if it will accept the MOOC course for credit.
San Jose State University announced a partnership with MOOC provider Udacity to
allow students to take specific MOOCs for credit (Young, 2013). San Jose State University
believes the benefits of this partnership allow more students to take courses that San Jose State
University would have problems offering due to budget constraints. Udacity charges students
who want credit from San Jose State $150 per course, which is much less than the cost of normal
credit courses offered at the university.
While blended learning programs are not as prevalent as fully online programs, the
number of programs offering blended learning programs are significant nonetheless (Allen et al.,
2007; Parsad et al., 2008). Surveys by Allen, Seaman, and Garrett (2007) have shown that about
55% of all reported institutions offered at least one blended course while 64% offered at least
one online course. Blended programs were offered mainly at the undergraduate level (46%) with
the rest being graduate (22%) and continuing education (11%). Public institutions offered the
most programs across all levels via blended programs while private nonprofit and private for-
profit institutions offered significantly fewer programs in a blended delivery, relying on purely
online formats. Blended courses are also likely to be offered more at larger institutions. Large
universities, over 15,000 students, had the highest reported percentage of core faculty teaching
blended courses at 78% versus 65% teaching online and 62% teaching face-to-face courses
(Allen, et. al, 2007).
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 21
A comparison of face-to-face (traditional classroom courses), online and blended course
offerings in the Fall 2004 was summarized by reported institutions and by level (Allen, et. al,
2007). At the undergraduate level, 88% of all courses were offered in a face-to-face format, 55%
offered in an online format, and 46% offered in a blended format. The numbers decreased at the
graduate level with 40% of all courses offered face-to-face, 26% online, and 22% via a blended
format.
Online and blended course availability varied by institution type as well. A significant
number of public universities offered online (87%) and blended (80%) courses at the
undergraduate level compared to private nonprofit (36% online and 32% blended), and private
for-profit institutions (64% online and 26% blended). Larger institutions also tend to deliver
more online and blended courses than smaller institutions. Blended course offerings in particular
increase significantly as the size of the institution increases. Other reported data shows that
master’s program offered in a blended format increased linearly with the increasing institution
size.
Allen et al. (2007) conducted a national survey of 2,033 U.S. adults that studied the
student consumer experience and interests in various delivery modes of post-secondary
education. Approximately half of the respondents reported some experience with online or
blended courses (52%). Twenty-nine percent had experience with fully online courses and 25%
had experience with blended courses. Student preferences regarding delivery modes for degree
or for-credit certificates were evenly distributed across on-campus, online, and blended delivery
modes but more favorable towards delivery modes with some face-to-face elements.
Respondents were also asked about their likelihood of pursuing a postsecondary program in the
next three years by different delivery modes. The results varied for fully online and blended
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 22
online programs with results favoring modes that had campus-based delivery methods.
Therefore, respondents were more likely to enroll in degree programs offered with blended
learning programs than fully online programs. The ambiguity of defining blended learning may
also have potential issues affecting survey results (Allen et al., 2007).
Blended Learning
Blended learning is a pedagogical approach that integrates traditional face-to-face
instruction with online instruction. While blended learning has existed for some time, research
on blended learning to deliver programs to online students is limited. There is no agreement on
the percentage of face-to-face versus online learning that constitutes blended learning (Dziuban
et al., 2004). Online learning has several definitions that also muddle the online learning
landscape and can be viewed as a phenomenon for which there can be confusion in definitions
and methods to deliver blended learning programs. The lack of existing theories to examine why
online students may leave programs is further supported by the phenomenological approach.
Dziuban et al. (2004) identifies the issues around defining blended learning by describing this
phenomenon:
The novelty of online learning is apparent in the diversity of names given to the
phenomenon: Web-based learning, e-learning, and asynchronous learning networks, among
others. These efforts have been focused primarily on off-campus student populations. With the
more recent on-campus emphasis, yet another set of labels has appeared, including hybrid
learning, blended learning, and mixed-mode instruction. The mere existence of so many names
for what is essentially a single concept suggests that no dominant model has yet been accepted as
a definition of standard practice. (p. 2)
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 23
Dziuban et al. (2004) provided an overview of blended learning from their analysis at the
Center for Distributed Learning at the University of Central Florida (UCF). The Center for
Distributed Learning serves as a centralized agent for the development, support, and strategies
around online teaching and learning. They reviewed institutional data from hundreds of on
campus, blended, and fully online courses. Comparisons between face-to-face, blended, and fully
online models were made and results about blended learning yielded several suggestions for
faculty and university administrators. Blended learning provided all the benefits of fully online
programs while also supporting face-to-face contact. Faculty could also ease into teaching online
courses by first teaching blended courses. Faculty like teaching in blended learning environments
because they begin teaching courses in a familiar environment and can integrate online
instructional tools (Dziuban et al., 2004). Faculty and students also gain a better understanding of
information technology, “providing students with new abilities that benefit them throughout their
entire academic and employment careers” (Dziuban et al., 2004, p. 4).
Dziuban et al. (2004) discussed the benefits of blended learning initiatives to the
university by improving various institutional efficiencies like classroom scheduling and reducing
on campus traffic such as student parking needs. UCF created blended learning courses when
they discovered that 75% of their fully online students were also enrolled in face-to-face courses.
This emphasized the point of students looking for flexible program offerings while having more
comforts with on campus offerings (Allen et al., 2007; Dziuban et al., 2004; Parsad et al, 2008;).
Blended learning is also seen as a combination of E-learning and other forms of
classroom instruction (Allen, Seaman, & Garrett, 2007; Mackay & Stockport, 2006; Mitchell &
Honore, 2007). The body of literature surrounding blended learning is broad as the definitions
can vary with regards to how much mix of instruction constitutes blended learning. A report by
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 24
Allen et al. (2007) called blended learning the least coherent category of online learning. This
report also stated that consumers of education in the United States were very open to different
delivery modes such as fully online or blended learning programs and that there was a lot
opportunity for growth in the online market. This report specified blended learning programs as
those that offered 30-79 percent of program content online. They surveyed over 1,000 U.S.
colleges and universities and concluded that most blended learning was offered at the
undergraduate level (45.9%) and then graduate (21.9%) and the rest for continuing education
(11.3%). Private, nonprofit and private, for-profit universities had a higher percentage of courses
offered at the graduate level than public universities.
The Benefits of Blended Programs
Blended learning programs can be costly to implement and support due to incorporating
classroom and online technologies to accommodate face-to-face and online instruction (Dziuban
et al., 2004). There are many reported benefits to blended learning, however. In some cases,
students in blended learning programs perform better than face-to-face counterparts and
comparable to students receiving online only instruction (Detwiler, 2008; Dziuban et al., 2004).
Detwiler (2008) reviewed study journals from two groups of students in an undergraduate level
course in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). One group of students included adult
professionals taking the course fully online and the second group included traditional
undergraduate students in a blended, online/face-to-face environment. Students in the fully
online program spent more time working on academic coursework and reading materials than
those in the blended/face-to-face course. These findings suggested that not attending lectures
resulted in spending more time reading materials. Students in the fully online course had higher
course scores and grades than the students in the blended/face-to-face course. However, fully
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 25
online students were working professionals and had considerably more computer programming
experience than the traditional undergraduate students, which helped them with course related
work. “Information from these diaries suggest that a student’s ability to meet learning objectives
is less dependent on the course content delivery mechanism than it is on the student’s motivation,
maturity, and time management skills” (p. 131). The findings would suggest that mature and
motivated students would succeed in either delivery modes but flexibility in online courses was a
preferred learning method.
While much of the literature around blended learning programs discussed methodology
and benefits to traditional and online students, no comparisons were made on student services,
particularly those that may reduce online student attrition. Traditional students who leave college
are physically missed in the classroom and university, but online students who leave the
institution may not be noticed early. Institutions tend to underestimate the number of students
who leave college because attrition is not consistently defined or part of a systematic review
process (Tinto, 1987). Student retention is an important focus for student affairs and minimizing
online student attrition has been absent in the literature and student affairs strategies. This study
aims to address that gap and provide insights into online student attrition.
The Role of Student Affairs in Supporting Traditional, On Campus Students
As college student enrollments grew significantly in the 1950s and 1960s, faculty were
limited in their ability to support students’ lives outside of the classroom (NASPA, 1987).
Students entered college with more variance in their backgrounds and motivations. “The role of
student affairs is largely determined by the mission and goals of the institution” (NASPA, 1987,
p. 7). Student affairs serve students in their development, independence, and academic
transitions. The profession of student affairs has several assumptions and beliefs for supporting
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 26
traditional students, but research in the profession about nontraditional students, especially those
enrolled in online coursework, is limited.
The role of student affairs in a traditional university setting can be very broad. There are
competency areas that properly frame the discussion of student affairs and highlight similarities
in the support strategies for traditional on campus and online students. Understanding the role of
traditional student services is critical to understanding how online students are served similarly
or differently. Traditional student affairs considerations include student engagement, student
involvement, personal circumstances, and out-of-class environments. Student affairs support the
values and mission of the institution, establish policies and programs that contribute to a safe
campus, advocate for student participation in governance, and provide important essential
services such as admissions, registration, housing, counseling, that help students navigate
through the institutional system. It is important to review the traditional and evolving role of
student affairs in the context of online learners.
NASPA is a leading association for student affairs professionals, which includes more
than 12,000 member institutions, including the entire United States and 29 countries. NASPA
has coordinated with ACPA – the College Student Educators International to establish a set of
professional competency areas for student affairs, primarily college level student affairs
practitioners in the United States.
The NASPA (2010) guidelines for student affairs practitioners’ competency included
core areas of knowledge. Among these areas are technology, sustainability, and globalism that
are worth reviewing to gain a fundamental understanding of the functional areas of student
services. The competency areas are summarized with specific skills highlighted that may require
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 27
different levels of focus for traditional, blended, and online learning programs (see appendix A.
Student Affairs Competency Areas Highlights).
Several competencies are important to highlight as they have appeared in literature
related to student services for online students. In the area of ‘Advising and Helping’, student
affairs practitioners should “collaborate with other campus departments and organizations as
well as surrounding community agencies and other institutions of higher education to address
mental health concerns in a comprehensive, collaborative way” (NASPA, 2010, p. 9). Student
affairs is challenged by the communication issues related to electronic communication as it can
be impersonal and online students often seek immediate electronic responses (Taylor & Holley,
2009). Student affairs can improve their effectiveness by utilizing technology (social networking,
videos, podcasts, etc.) to address student issues (NASPA, 2010).
In the area of ‘Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion’ student affairs practitioners should “use
appropriate technology to aid in identifying individuals with diverse backgrounds as well as
assessing progress towards successful integration of these individuals into the campus
environment” (NASPA, 2010, p. 12). Studies have shown that the need to integrate students into
the campus environment is not critical to academic success for online students (Hirt et al., 2003;
Taylor & Holley, 2009). This can pose problems for student affairs as online students have also
reported feeling isolated and continual communication from student affairs and faculty is
perceived as beneficial (Taylor & Holley, 2009).
The areas of ‘Law, Policy, and Governance’ and ‘Student Learning and Development’
highlight the need for collaboration between different units within an institution to provide
quality support for students (NASPA, 2010). This institutional collaboration is even more
important for the online students as they do not attend campus for traditional support. Blended
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 28
learning programs may not have the benefits of dedicated student affairs and other support
services for the online students. A lack of resources requires more collaboration between various
levels of student services but can have also have “an exponentially negative impact on the
outcomes of the learning when it is remote” (Mitchell & Honore, 2007, p. 147).
NASPA (2004) highlighted the importance of institutional considerations of student
learning in the context of a changing landscape in higher education. The growth of adult college
students and programs aimed at supporting their special needs versus traditional students is also
an important reconsideration for student services administrators. “More and more students are
not just students anymore; many of their responsibilities, commitments, and communities are
found off campus” (p. 2). A focus on students’ self-directed learning is particularly true for
online students whose academic success if often cited as more related to their personal maturity
and independence (Hirt et al., 2003; Taylor & Holley, 2009). The considerations of external
communities on student resources can have a tremendous effect on attrition (Tinto, 1987).
Transformative learning is an important student affairs consideration because it looks at
various frames of reference with regard to student learning (NASPA, 2004). Students make
reflections on their lives and make decisions based on their priorities or frames of reference.
Their priorities can and will often compete with academic obligations that challenge the student
engagement within a program, particularly if they are online learners with less physical contact
and connection to the institution. “To support today’s learning outcome, the focus of education
must shift from information transfer to identity development (transformation)” (NASPA, 2004,
p. 9). NASPA (2004) suggested learning move to student or learner centered approach, to help
students become more intentional learners. Student affairs plays a pivotal role in helping guide
students through this process of intentional and transformative learning. Intentional learning is
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 29
emphasized in several studies as maturity is a significant indicator of success for online students
(Detwiler, 2008; Taylor & Holley, 2009).
Understanding student motivations, maturity, and support needs are critical issues for
student affairs. In blended learning programs, there are two distinct types of students traditional
face-to-face students and fully online students. Students in these groups can have different
support needs that challenge notions of equivalency theory for student affairs, which is providing
equivalent services for on campus and online students (Hirt et al., 2003). While there is very
little research on the role of student affairs in supporting online students, it is also important to
review existing literature related to student affairs and traditional students to identify the key
commonalities and differences in supporting these two different student groups.
The Role of Student Affairs in Supporting Online Students
Mitchell and Honore (2007) looked at several criteria for supporting students in blended
learning programs. They cautioned that student affairs resources are critical to supporting
blended students due to the complexities imposed by instructional technologies and a mixed
audience. They stated the following:
The investment in human resources to create and run virtual learning programs is also
considerable, although very rewarding when successful. There will always be competing
demands on scarce resources unless we have the luxury of a dedicated team, but a lack of
resources has an exponentially negative impact on the outcomes of the learning when it is
remote. The support and participation of the tutors, facilitators and technical team are all critical
success factors. (p. 147)
Taylor and Holley (2009) looked at academic support for online students enrolled in an
undergraduate, fully online, nursing degree program. They found that the online students felt
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 30
very isolated and perceived individual support and attention from staff and faculty as beneficial.
Additionally, coordination and communication between student affairs staff and faculty
benefited students, especially in cases where students had personal or academic challenges.
Online students wanted to keep their academic focuses narrow, particularly to those related to
course requirements. “Helping students to cope with the demands of the online program proved
one of the most crucial student support functions for faculty and staff” (Taylor & Holley, 2009,
p. 98). Students commented that in online courses, receiving course requirements before class
started and having a checklist for things like registration would have helped them (Taylor &
Holley, 2009; Yu & Brandenberg, 2010).
Taylor and Holley (2009) looked at an online nursing degree program to evaluate the role
of student affairs in providing support to the online students. Interviews were conducted with 19
undergraduate students enrolled in the two year, online nursing degree program. All students
(mostly female) were employed as registered nurses and their average age was 35. All of the
online students were working professionals and many had families to support, but enrolled in the
online nursing degree program for the flexibility and to acquire academic credentials (Dare et al.,
2005; Parsad et al., 2008; Taylor and Holley; 2009). Many students discussed the importance of
maintaining full time employment as a reason for enrolling in the online program. Detwiler
(2008) found that online student performance is less related to course delivery mechanisms and
methods than their motivation, maturity, and time management skills. These considerations are
critical for student affairs to plan support resources and guidance for nonacademic issues. Online
student motivations are an important factor related to student success and retention.
In learning centered programs, student affairs are viewed as partners with faculty to
ensure learning takes place inside and outside the classroom (Dale & Drake, 2005; NASPA,
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 31
2004). When asked about the lack of structure in online classes, some students responded by
stating that being disciplined and selective about participation in non-academic activities was
essential (Taylor & Holley, 2009). Students needed help with managing the demands of the
online program and this was reported as a key student support function (Taylor & Holley, 2009).
Online students do not often collaborate or get involved with other students or social activities
unless there is a requirement to do so (Taylor & Holley, 2009). Online students were primarily
focused on course and degree requirements. The importance of traditional student life and
experiences on campus can be unavailable or non-differentiated for online students. Conversely,
isolation for traditional aged students can have a negative effect on student engagement and
satisfaction particularly as the degree and quality of personal interaction with other members of
the institution can affect student persistence (Tinto, 1987).
Several studies report that academic support is the highest priority for online students
(Dare et al., 2005; Hirt, Cain, Bryant, & Williams, 2003; Taylor & Holley, 2009). Online
students rated social opportunities like student groups at the university lower than their
occupational and personal lives. Students were more interested in their credentialing in
professional programs than joining social events and clubs (Taylor & Holley, 2009). A study by
Hirt, Cain, Bryant, and Williams (2003) rated online student perceptions for support services and
found the following: academic services were moderately important, while personal and social
services such as support groups, counselors, and student organizations were unimportant to
online students. The study included multiple institutions and student demographics from
different online programs.
Hirt et al. (2009) surveyed students enrolled in online courses at 16 different higher
education institutions. This study looked at the importance of student services to online learners
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 32
and whether the importance of the services varied by students’ gender, age, and online to
campus. There were 167 student respondents with the following ages: less than 25 years (13%),
25-34 (24%), 35-44 (30%), and 45 and older (31%). Students were evenly distributed by class;
undergraduates (37%), graduate (24%), and non-degree seeking (38%). The results from the
survey showed that overall, online support services were moderately important to online
students. Financial services and personal/social services were unimportant, with the latter being
very unimportant. Undergraduates were significantly more satisfied with both academic and
financial services than their counterparts and those 24 years or younger were significantly more
satisfied with personal/social services than other age groups (Hirt et al., 2009, p. 108). Another
key finding from this study included responses from discussion boards that supported the
quantitative survey findings overall.
Several studies found that most online students were geographically local to the
institution but elected to take a class via online learning for reasons such as flexibility and the
ability to work independently (Hirt et al., 2009; Parsad et al., 2008; Taylor & Holley, 2009).
These studies had several limitations; they could not readily gather demographic data so that
class standing and age were unknown, and due to methodological issues, the survey was
available online so that any Internet user could have accessed it. Online students located close to
the institution may have rated services lower because they had the option of attending on campus
and receiving the wide range of traditional support services, though this may have been just
correlation and not significantly demonstrated (Hirt et al., 2008, p. 114). Future studies could
further identify online learners by age and online to campus to determine if proximity to the
campus had affected views of student services, particularly if they took advantage of attending
campus.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 33
Fisher and Baird (2005) looked at online students enrolled in the Online Masters of Arts
in Teaching at Pepperdine University and found that online students performed better when they
were able to make connections and links to what they were learning in the program with what
they did in their profession. Students were more integrated in their professional and personal
lives than on social aspects of the institution (Fischer & Baird, 2005; Taylor & Holley, 2009).
This focus on specialized concentrations and professional applicability versus generalized
education was an important difference in creating programs for adults versus children and
adolescences (Knowles, 1988).
Fisher and Baird (2005) looked at the social structure of online courses to help identify
student support services and retention. Building online communities through discussion boards,
social networks, and other tools were identified as important for student motivation and
retention. The study reviewed student participation in online social tools but did not properly
connect retention to student use of various social tools as it was not reported if specific
participation were course requirements. Regardless, social connections built into curriculum can
help students build a sense of community, though it is worth noting that the program studied was
a graduate degree in teaching, which in itself may require more social support as part of the
learning and credentialing process. Knowles (1998) discussed the implications of grouping adult
learners and examples of homogenous groups being helpful for specific developmental tasks
whereas heterogeneous groups would be preferable if the tasks required divergent views. For
adult online learners, there may be difficulties with arranging groups due to the remoteness of
students and inherent isolation related to being online learners.
While online students placed academic support highest, it also placed a burden on faculty
teaching online courses. Online students primarily relied on course instructors as their main
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 34
source of support in all areas (Cain, Marrara, Pitre, & Armour, 2003). Faculty faced challenges
with being the first source for academic and non-academic questions from online students
(Taylor & Holley, 2009). These perceptions from online students pose unique support
considerations for student affairs staff supporting traditional on campus, fully online students,
and those that participate in class and online. “Student affairs professionals in online programs
may find themselves re-defining what constitutes effective practice” (Taylor & Holley, 2009,
p.98). New online student support strategies will help create effective models that addresses this
new demographic of students. The importance of academic and student affairs collaboration was
also highlighted and students perceived this collaboration as beneficial (Taylor & Holley, 2009).
Tinto’s (1987) Model of Institutional Departure
While Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure primarily relied on older
longitudinal data for undergraduate students at two and four year colleges, it serves as a critical
framework with which to look at online student attrition and the role of student affairs in
supporting this population. One of primary goals of this framework is to provide support for their
social and intellectual growth as the guiding principle for institutional action (Tinto, 1987, p. 5).
Most traditional students leave college for nonacademic reasons that reflect more of the
individual’s social and intellectual experiences within the institution. “Specifically, they mirror
the degree to which those experiences serve to integrate individuals into the social and
intellectual life of the institution” (Tinto, 1987, p. 53). Nontraditional students, such as online
and adult students, may also be more connected to their specific courses and program than the
institution as a whole (Ashar & Skenes, 1993).
Students may leave an institutional because of incongruence and isolation (Tinto, 1987).
Incongruence can occur when there is a mismatch in academic and social systems between the
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 35
student and the institution (see Figure 1). Academic incongruence is characterized by
mismatches in student skills and interests and the academic requirements of the course and
program. The academic requirements can be either too challenging or too easy. For many online
students, the correlation of academic content to their professional interests was the most critical
requirement factor for their enrollment in online or blended programs (Fischer & Baird, 2005;
Taylor & Holley, 2009).

Figure 1. Tinto’s (1987) Model of Institutional Departure
Isolation occurs when there are insufficient interactions between the institutional system
and student (Tinto, 1987). The degree and quality of personal interactions are important
considerations for student persistence. For online students, more burden is placed on faculty who
are often seen as the primary source of information (Cain et al., 2003). Faculty provide both
academic and social representations of the institution and the absence of these faculty
interactions and availability may be indicators of student departure (Tinto, 1987).
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 36
The effects of external commitments and communities are another important dimension
of Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure. External communities such as families,
neighborhoods, and work settings have their own structures and also affect persistence. Many
online students work full time and have families, and how these external commitments influence
the students’ resources are critical examinations (Taylor & Holley, 2009). Tinto (1987) suggests
that when external impacts are significant, it raises questions about defining voluntary departure.
Finally, Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure provides dimensions of
institutional action. These dimensions provide a sound basis for which to address online student
attrition and create appropriate support services and retention plans. Student services play an
integral part of any retention plans that affect online students. Tinto suggests the following
important principles of institutional action:
1. Institutions should ensure that new students enter with or have the opportunity to acquire
the skills needed for academic success.
2. Institutions should reach out to make personal contact with students beyond the formal
domains of academic life.
3. Institutional retention actions should be systemic in character.
4. Institutions should start as early as possible to retain students.
5. The primary commitment of institutions should be to their students.
6. Education, not retention, should be the goal of institutional retention programs.
Social Integration and Community
NASPA (2004) views the entire campus as a learning community where the learning
environment can be mapped out to support transformative learning. Student learning is affected
by multiple domains within an institution (see Figure 2). The social context refers to personal
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 37
and group relationships. Academic context refers to opportunities for thinking, types of learning,
and relationships with faculty. Institutional context includes campus culture such as norms,
location, and celebrations as well as opportunity structure including on and off campus learning.
All the domains interconnect to affect the student. Students in turn create processes to support
their identity and self-authorship, items important when considering online learners (Hirt et al.,
2004; Taylor & Holley, 2009). Students integrate important developmental processes including
“thoughts about core values, life goals, vocation, intimacy and, beliefs about the relationship
between self and community” (NASPA, 2004, p. 15).

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 38

Figure 2. Interconnectedness of Student Learning (NASPA, 2004, p. 14)
According to NASPA (2004), student affairs practitioners have a significant role in
helping students connect academic learning to student life. Student affairs can be conscious of
the courses students and course requirements. In cases of online students, student affairs can help
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 39
navigate students through processes and technology support services to achieve course
objectives. Student affairs can also coordinate with academic affair to support student life issues
and serve as consultants to faculty (NASPA, 2004). Student affairs can look for opportunities to
integrate various aspects of academic, professional, and personal services into student
development areas and look for ways to improve the availability and integration of multiple
institutional services to further connect students to their community (NASPA, 2004)
The degree to which community and social integration has been studied for online
learners has been narrowly focused on specific services and still emerging in the literature. Ashar
and Skenes (1993) reviewed Tinto’s institutional departure model to determine the extent of
which academic and social integration can explain retention among nontraditional students. Key
differences between traditional and adult learners are seen in how they connect to academics.
Adult learners are more likely to connect to their class and program versus the social aspects of
the institution compared to traditional learners (Ashar & Skenes, 1993). This same difference
may be reflected in online learners, particularly the older adult population.
Larger institutions are less likely to promote interaction and community and consequently
may have challenges with student retention (Ashar & Skenes, 1993). Student affairs practitioners
can consequently work with faculty to develop more interaction and keep class sizes small and in
groups. Ashar & Skenes (1993) reviewed 25 groups of adult learners in various business
programs within a college. They found that smaller classes had fewer dropouts than less socially
integrated and larger classes. Academic and career integration were not reported as significant
factors of student retention in this study.
Fostering student interactions with other students was an important consideration for
faculty and student affairs. Fisher and Baird (2008) found that online students had a dual identity
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 40
as individuals in a class as well as members within a learning community. Faculty should support
the socialization process of online students within group and individual contexts and learning
environments. According to Fisher and Baird (2008):
"To what extent the learner participates in the online learning community is largely
determined by the structure of the course and its ability to provide the learner with projects and
activities that will allow them to fulfill their dual identity as an individual and member within a
learning community” (p. 92)
Taylor and Holley (2009) reported that most of the online students enrolled in the online
nursing degree program sought little social support or integration. While students felt isolated in
terms of social integration, it did not factor into their ability to graduate. Students were narrowly
focused on academic progress and all of those studied were working professionals. The key
findings in this study showed that academic integration was more important than social
integration for students. Academic and student affairs collaboration was an important factor for
student success beyond social integration services. The extent to which academic and social
integration is helpful in reducing student attrition is a key focus for this study.
Conclusion
The lack of research about how student affairs differentiate support services for on
campus and online students in blended programs highlight the importance of studying existing
blended learning programs. The perceptions of online students who leave the institutional system
is an important consideration to determine if the resources and services provided by the Blended
Learning Network match the support needs and priorities of the online learners and factors
associated with attrition. In chapter three, I examined these considerations and addressed the
research questions by using a phenomenological approach.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 41
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
This study used Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure to focus on online
students in a blended learning program that left the institutional system. Tinto’s model was
critical to this study because it looks at both the social and intellectual integration conditions for
which continued persistence in college is needed. This model also looks at the formal and
informal systems within an institution to evaluate how students are affected and how external
forces play a role in a student’s decision to leave the institutional system. It is the aim of this
study to provide a better understanding of online student attrition and suggest institutional action
in retention assessments.
This study looked at online student attrition through the lenses of phenomenological and
grounded theory to connect the new area of online student attrition with the emergence of new
conceptual concepts. This phenomenological approach allowed the researcher to create
classifications based on the experiences of the participants. The researcher used selective coding
to address the primary research questions and identify hypothesis to connect themes (Creswell,
1998). The grounded theory approach allowed for a systematic approach of inquiry that
developed new interpretations and allowed for flexible guidelines for collecting and analyzing
qualitative data to construct new theories from the data found in this study (Bryant & Charmaz,
2007).
The results of this study will help university administrators and student affairs
practitioners identify strategies to support online students and create retention plans. This study
also looked at the perceptions and motivations of online learners related to support services and
the importance of community or social integration for online learners. Models of organizational
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 42
collaboration examined institutional management and communication that may lead to effective
strategies to support unique programs like blended learning.
This study used a phenomenological approach to investigate reasons why online students
in a blended learning dropped out and factors that may have led to attrition. Since online student
attrition is not well understood, this qualitative approach provided common themes and richer
descriptions of the online student experience through interviews (Polkinghorne, 1989). The lack
of existing theories that examines why online students leave programs was further reason to use
the phenomenological approach for this qualitative study (Moustakas, 1994). The
phenomenological research method drew upon the researcher’s view and interpretations of
primary factors contributing to online student attrition and successful student affairs strategies to
support online students and purposely turned these interpretations into assumptions and biases.
This awareness served to focus on the subjects as the primary source for information and
experiences and reduce expectations for any specific outcomes (Polkinghorne, 1989). This study
initially focused on Tinto’s (1987) model of student departure, particularly the academic and
social influences that contributed to attrition. The individual experiences became primary
considerations and the researcher developed themes from the findings related to online student
attrition and addressed the primary research questions (Creswell, 1998).
This study interviewed online students who stopped enrolling in courses as the primary
source of information. This study used a phenomenological approach to gather experiences and
descriptions of students through written statements and interviews. This study also focused on
how services are differentiated for on campus and fully online students as there has been little
research exploring this area and if support services can reduce online student attrition.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 43
Research Questions
1. What are the factors that contribute to online student attrition in blended learning
programs?
2. What type of support services address retention for online students in blended learning
programs?
3. How do student affairs support online students in a blended learning program?
Sample
Big West University (pseudonym) offers a blended learning program in engineering
through their Blended Learning Network. This program offers master’s degrees to online
students across several engineering disciplines. This blended learning program provides rich,
Internet based technologies to both traditional on campus students and online students
synchronously and asynchronously inside and outside of the classroom. Students have the option
to attend classes on campus, fully online, or using a combination of on campus and online
options. The blended learning services allow traditional on campus students access to several E-
learning tools such as course management tools, access to recorded lecture videos and notes, as
well as online interactive tools with other students.
This study focused on the online students who left the degree program at Big West
University for at least two consecutive semesters over the past three years, and the student affairs
staff who supported them. This sample did not include students who stopped enrolling in courses
more than three years ago to ensure that students interviewed could remember their experiences
at Big West University and why they stopped taking courses. Online students are supported
remotely but also have the option to visit the campus and attend classes in person. This study
interviewed staff in the student affairs and student support roles within the Blended Learning
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 44
Network at Big West University and highlight specific services for online students as well as
how student services are differentiated (if at all) for on campus and online students enrolled in
courses through the Blended Learning Network.
Overview of Big West University’s Blended Learning Network
Big West University is a large research university, consistently highly ranked by US
News and World report as a top graduate engineering school. This institution delivers several
graduate engineering degrees through their Blended Learning Network. At the start of the Fall
2012 semester, there were approximately 3,000 on campus, masters students taking courses
through the Blended Learning Network and 1,000 students taking courses online. It is unclear
what percentage of the online students were fully online students versus online students who also
visited the campus. This study also explored the services provided by the student affairs staff to
the online students.
The commitment to online education is evident at Big West University as part of their
strategic plan includes a major section titled ‘Access’ that includes statements like “In response
to the needs of learners who require flexibility to meet other demands in their lives and to
provide rigorous lifelong learning opportunities to people throughout the world, Big West
University has worked to make more of our professional programs and continuing education
courses available online” and “College graduates must be provided with greater access online to
earning master’s degrees and advanced certificates” (Big West University, 2010).
Defining Attrition
Online students can stop taking courses for many reasons. This study used a definition of
attrition based on a review of data of online student enrollment patterns. Part time students
enrolled in the courses through the Blended Learning Network may also finish their degree
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 45
without continuous enrollment and may affect the sample selection process as attrition can be
related to students who drop out (permanently) or stop out (temporarily) from the University
(Tinto, 1987).
Data Collection
The data collection design for this study was a qualitative approach with special focus on
the phenomenological inquiry. The data collection process can be summarized as “interrelated
activities aimed at gathering good information to answer emerging research questions”
(Creswell, 1998, p. 110). I reviewed enrollment data related to all online students that have
stopped taking courses for a least one year. The enrollment data identified basic demographic
information about the student such as their gender, age, program, how many courses they took
before leaving the institution, and location. The data collection also included the information
sheet for this study along with a request to interview them as part of the study. The recruitment
information for the interview, information sheet, and interview protocol was submitted for IRB
approval prior to contacting or conducting interviews with any students or staff. I emailed 112
online students in the Blended Learning Network who have stopped taking courses the
recruitment letter. I encouraged them to contact me for any additional questions or concerns.
Interviews were open ended and semi-structured. I followed an interview protocol to ask
questions and further explore the research questions to help identify the phenomena of online
student attrition and support services for online students. All data was digitized and stored in an
encrypted password protected drive on researcher’s laptop. No personally identifiable
information was stored in digital or physical files. Backup of data was also encrypted and
password protected. All files, laptop, and backup systems was stored in a secured lock cabinet
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 46
within the researchers locked office. The data collection process is summarized in the Table 1
below.
Table 1
Data Collection Process
Locating
Site/Individual

- Evaluate documents related to retention and attrition to
identify participants who have stopped taking courses
for at least one year.
- Participants must have experienced the phenomenon of
attrition in an online program, specifically they must
have been admitted and enrolled into a degree program
through the Blended Learning Network and have
stopped taking courses for at least two semesters.
- Identify student advisors that support online students
in the Blended Learning Network.
Access and Rapport

- Review all Institutional Research Board requirements
to conduct study
- Utilize approved interview protocols and
communications protocols
- Receive consent of participants to be studied
- Protect confidentiality of participants
Criterion Sampling

- All participants must have experience in the
phenomenon of attrition within the Blended Learning
Network
- Criterion sampling from the survey will help gather
initial information from online students that stopped
taking courses for at least one year.
- Additional criteria related to demographics such as
gender, age, distance to campus, services online
students used while enrolled, will help further
construct meaning and patterns around online student
attrition
Collecting Data

- Follow interview protocol
- Follow document analysis protocol
Recording Data - Use interview protocol to record notes
- Use document analysis protocol to review documents
and data
Field Issues - Account for time intensive interviews and follow up
- Utilize interview transcription services to improve
speed and accuracy of transcriptions
- Prepare for issues related to document gaps,
ambiguity, or access problems

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 47
Table 1, continued -
Storing Data - Digitize paper copies, create back up files
- Use high quality audio recording devices
- Develop matrix of information gathered
- Protect confidentiality of participants
- Encrypt and password-protect all digital files and
backup systems. Lock all laptops, digital files, backup
systems, and documents in a secured cabinet and
office.

Participants
Criterion sampling was used to ensure participants in this study met specific requirements
to best study online student attrition and the role of student affairs advisors. The participants
selected in this study included the student affairs staff in the Blended Learning Network and the
online students who left the institutions for at least two consecutive semesters and within the past
three years. Online students were identified by enrollment data along with other demographics
such as their age, gender, distance to campus, and number of courses taken. This study focused
on the online students enrolled in courses through the Blended Learning Network who stopped
taking courses for at least two consecutive semesters. Convenience sampling was used after
identifying students and student affairs advisors that fit the study requirements. This sampling
was used for this qualitative study to maximize the number of participants interviewed (Creswell,
1998; Merriam, 1998). This study interviewed 14 students who fit the attrition requirements.
According to the 2013 U.S. News & World Report survey for online graduate engineering
programs, the Blended Learning Network reported the following; gender distribution for the
students enrolled in 2012 was 80% male and 20% female, 48.5% of all students in the program
were white, 15.5 % Asian, and the rest under 10% or unknown.
Interviews of student affairs staff were also conducted to determine how student services
are differentiated, if at all, for online students and to identify student support strategies used
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 48
within the Blended Learning Network. There were 12 major departments and programs that
offered degree programs through the Blended Learning Network and 14 student affairs advisors
in the various programs that advised on campus and online students. All 14 student affairs
advisors were contacted to be interviewed for this study. Three student affairs advisors
volunteered to be part of this study and all were interviewed and included in this study. The three
student affairs advisors advised students in different programs.
There were 112 students enrolled in 31 different graduate degree programs and included
92 males and 20 females in this sample of students that left the program. The researcher
interviewed fourteen students and three student affairs advisors from the sample. All participants
that agreed to the interview were included in this study. Pseudonyms are used to protect
participant’s personally identifiable information.
The fourteen students consisted of six male students and eight female students. It is worth
pointing out that the percentage of female student participants were significantly higher than
compared to the female percentages in the overall sample. These student participants were
enrolled in nine different degree programs. Nine of the students lived in California and the other
five were from five different states. Of the nine students who lived in California, two were within
the same city limits as the University and six were close enough to have the campus be their
designated exam site. All interviews took place by phone with students and occurred during their
lunch hour, after work or on weekends. Table 2 below summarizes the student participant
demographics.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 49
Table 2
Student Participant Demographics
Student Gender Program Age
# of
classes State
Elizabeth F Mechanical Engineering 25 3 CA
Linda F Product Development Engineering 27 2 CA
Jeff M Electrical Engineering 27 4 NC
Max M
Civil Engineering (Structural
Engineering) 26 1 CO
Lucy F Mechanical Engineering 34 2 CA
Jacob M Mechanical Engineering 41 3 CA
Kate F Aerospace Engineering 27 4 OK
Heather F Chemical Engineering 41 2 MN
Greg M Mechanical Engineering 25 1 CA
Alice F Electrical Engineering 30 2 CA
Brad M
Aerospace & Mechanical
Engineering 25 2 AL
Denise F Computer Science 26 1 CA
Melissa F Engineering Management 34 5 CA
Miles M Computer Science 35 1 CA

Instrumentation
Interview Protocol
Students and student affairs advisors interviewed in this study followed the same
interview protocol. Interviews were open ended and semi-structured to allow for reflective
responses from the participants (Polkinghorne, 1989). An interview protocol was created to
record participant responses to questions (Creswell, 1998). Interviews were one-on-one in a
private setting and used technology assisted video conferencing. I also audiotaped the interview
and kept the data stored in a password protected and encrypted folder on my laptop. Codes were
used for all audio recordings, hand written notes, and transcriptions. Participants cannot be
individually identified in this study. Students that chose to participate in the interviews were
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 50
compensated with electronic gift cards. They did not have to answer all the questions in order to
receive the card. Interviews lasted around one hour per student and staff.
Document Analysis Protocol
I examined documents related to online student attrition. This was in the form of
enrollment data to help identify the sample based on the criterion related to a stop in continuous
enrollment for at least one year. I examined enrollment data collected by the Blended Learning
Network to provide demographic information. I also examined documents related to retention
plans and student services that were created for all students and specialized for online students.
All documents were digitized and stored in a password protected and encrypted folder on my
laptop. Documents in paper form were stored in a locked filing cabinet. Documents such as
interviews of specific participants did not have identifiable participant information on such files
and paper. Rather unique codes were used to separately identify participants and a data matrix
was used to locate and identify information (Creswell, 1998).
Validity
While the phenomenological approach relied heavily on the researcher as the primary
source for information and verification, there were methods to validate the study beyond the
researcher’s perspective (Creswell, 1998). Patterns will need to be rational and validated through
the findings and triangulated with interview data through selective coding where responses are
coded into core variables or concepts (Strauss & Corbin, 1988). For example, how similar are
patterns of attrition within the participants and how likely can these patterns be extended to other
online students. Patterns and findings should also be logical, even if novel, for student affairs
staff and well-grounded and supported within the education field being studied (Polkinghorne,
1989). Patterns from responses will help validate concepts identified in existing literature as well
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 51
as emerging concepts to support or build new theories from Tinto’s framework (Strauss &
Corbin, 1988). Member checking was also an important tool to help validate findings (Creswell,
1998). During interviews, students were asked to clarify responses or summaries and follow up
communications like emails was used to minimize inaccuracies. The grounded theory approach
also required the use of member checking to further refine emerging findings (Bryant &
Charmaz, 2007).
Role of Researcher and Bias
Identifying patterns and meaning in online student attrition is ultimately the
responsibility of the researcher. The researcher’s ability to establish a truth outside of his
perspective is critical to ensuring validity and decreasing the effects of researcher bias (Creswell,
1998). The researcher must describe what is known about online student attrition and describe
what is being learned about online student attrition while still accepting the incompleteness of
the research. Criterion sampling can also decrease bias because it provides some quality
assurance in that all subjects experience the specific phenomena. The interactions between
researcher and participants are also critical as the researcher must avoid being a voice of the
subject and leading participants towards specific responses. While interview questions are semi-
structured, they were largely open-ended. Patterns identified in this were connected back to
transcripts and descriptions given by participants and logically validated by outside researchers
such as those on the research committee. The researcher used member checking to restate or
summarize information and ask the participant to identify the accuracy of the information or
responses. This helped decrease misinterpretations and led to proper coding that has been
additionally validated by the respondents (Strauss & Corbin, 1988). While researcher bias was
minimized as much as possible, it could not be altogether eliminated when using the
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 52
phenomenological analysis as the researcher should become involved in the experiences of the
students and program for their study (Moustakas, 1994).
Conclusion
The sample identified in this study seeks to address the phenomena of online student
attrition. Criterion sampling was used to identify the most appropriate participants from the
Blended Learning Network that fit the phenomena of being an online student who has stopped
taking courses (Creswell, 1998). Validation was an important component of this study,
particularly as a phenomenological approach. The methodology used in this study attempted to
minimize bias and researcher limitations by allowing most of the findings to be kept intact and
patterns to be logically recognized by multiple researchers.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 53
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
The area of online student attrition is not well understood or researched. It is an emerging
area that becomes more important for student affairs and education leaders with the increases in
online education programs. This study looked at online student attrition through the lenses of
phenomenological and grounded theory to connect the new area of online student attrition with
the emergence of new conceptual concepts. This phenomenological approach allowed the
researcher to create classifications based on the experiences of the participants of the phenomena
of online education attrition as well as use selective coding to address the primary research
questions and identify hypothesis to connect themes (Creswell, 1998). The grounded theory
approach allowed for a systematic approach of inquiry that developed new interpretations and
allowed for flexible guidelines for collecting and analyzing qualitative data to construct new
theories from the data found in this study (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007).
This chapter presented findings from interviews with student affairs advisors and
students. Findings were organized by the research questions as well as introducing classifications
that emerged from the findings utilizing Tinto’s framework of institutional departure. The
research questions included; 1) What are the factors that contribute to online student attrition in
blended learning programs? 2) How do student affairs support online students in a blended
learning program? 3) What type of support services address retention for online students in
blended learning programs?
There were 112 students and 14 advisors contacted for this study from data obtained from
the Blended Learning Network. The 112 students were enrolled in 31 different graduate degree
programs and included 92 males and 20 females. Students in this sample did not earn their
master’s degree and had at least two semesters of non-continuous enrollments since their last
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 54
class. The 112 students were enrolled in 31 different graduate degree programs and included 92
males and 20 females. The sample was made up of students who were admitted into the program
between the Fall of 2001 and the Fall of 2013 with the assumption that they would be able to
provide the best responses for this study given the smaller time lapse since they were admitted
into the program and when they last enrolled in a course. The advisors represented academic
advisement staff for programs offered through the Blended Learning Network. There were 44
different degree programs offered by eight academic departments during this time.
Findings
Findings were organized by the research questions as well as introducing key findings
that emerged. The findings were framed by utilizing Tinto’s model of institutional departure to
determine the extent to which his framework applied to online students in a blended learning
programs. The major themes that emerged from the data include the following: (1) participant
profiles, (2) academic systems, (3) social systems, and (4) institutional and external
commitments, and (5) retention services.
Participant Profiles
All respondents reported that pursuing professional goals was one of the factors that
made them start their degree program and consequently contributed to their decisions to stop
taking courses in some manner due to specific conflicts or mismatches. Students were asked to
describe their background and initial goals and interests for pursuing their blended master’s
program at Big West University. Of the fourteen student participants, thirteen were working full
time at the start of their online master’s degree program but all students were employed full time
when they stopped taking courses. All of the students expressed interest in professional growth
and enrolled in programs that were directly relevant to their job professions or career paths.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 55
Elizabeth was an undergraduate at Big West University and majored in Biomedical
Engineering. She had internships during her undergraduate years but no full time employment at
the conclusion of her undergraduate studies and wanted to pursue her master’s degree in the area
of mechanical engineering for employment opportunities. “So I really thought to make myself
more suitable for the jobs in the workplace that I wanted. I really wanted to get the mechanical
engineering degree. I really thought that was going to be my road to success.” Her first graduate
course was as an on campus student and during that first class she started working full time at the
company where she interned as an undergraduate. She took the next two courses as an online
student in the Spring 2012 and Fall 2012 semesters as the flexibility of the Blended Learning
Network allowed her to make the transition to an online student.
Kate worked full time in the aerospace industry in Oklahoma and wanted to pursue her
master’s degree in the same field. She received her undergraduate degree in aerospace at Iowa
State University and wanted to focus on getting her master’s degree part time to advance her
career and take advantage of her company’s tuition assistance program. She started in the Fall
2011 semester and took four courses online; two in the Fall 2011 semester, one in the spring and
one the following summer in the Aerospace Engineering program.
Heather started the Fall 2010 semester in Chemical Engineering and took one and half
courses online. She had recently moved from California to Minnesota with her husband and son.
She had a position change within the company that required the relocation. She was interested in
the master’s program for educational and professional growth and felt the program would
provide her with more technical skills that would support her new technical responsibilities
within the company in Minnesota.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 56
Greg worked at a large aerospace corporation in Seal Beach, CA and started the
Mechanical Engineering program in the Fall 2012 semester. He was familiar with the program as
many of his colleagues in different sites around [city omitted] were online students through the
Blended Learning Network. Greg was a recent college graduate and like Elizabeth, went straight
to graduate school, though he started the master’s program as an online student from the
beginning. He was interested in the program for educational and career advancement goals and
to also be more experienced with software tools and applications in this field. He was also
admitted to another university’s mechanical engineering program but could not complete it
online. His company would also provide tuition support if he maintained a full time employment
status. Therefore, he decided to enroll in the Mechanical Engineering program at Big West
University so he could have the flexibility of participating online in as a part time student. He
completed one class as an online student.
Alice was fully employed and working for an aerospace company in El Segundo, CA.
She had taken a pre-requisite math course on campus at Big West University prior to starting the
Electrical Engineering program as an online student in the Fall 2011 semester. Her company also
had tuition assistance programs to pay for qualified part time programs such as electrical
engineering. She took two courses as an online student and did not look at other programs
because she liked the proximity to campus and the online flexibility.
Brad was working for a large aerospace company in Alabama that has education
opportunities for their employees and pays part time tuition for select institutions and programs
like those engineering ones offered from Big West University. He had colleagues that went
through the programs at Big West University and they had positive experiences that persuaded
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 57
him to start the Aerospace Engineering program online in the Fall 2013 semester. He took two
courses that semester as an online student.
Denise was admitted to the Computer Science program for the Fall 2011 semester. Like
Elizabeth, she was an undergraduate at Big West University and familiar with the graduate
programs online there. But it had been three years since she was had taken courses as an
undergraduate. Denise took three courses online, one per semester consecutively, since being
admitted into the program. She was a Biomedical Engineering undergraduate but wanted to
pursue computer science to develop her software and programming skills to be more effective at
her current job.
Melissa also graduated from Big West University but more than 10 years had passed
since her undergraduate studies. She was working full time in [city omitted] and started the
Engineering Management program in Fall 2010 and took one course online. She was married
with children and had advancements in management duties. She was interested in this program
as professional development and was receiving tuition assistance from her employer for part time
studies so that she could continue to work full time.
Miles was a software programmer working full time in Redlands, CA and started the
Computer Science program in Fall 2012 semester. He was comfortable taking online short
courses and certificate programs but wanted the graduate degree for professional growth. He
completed several programming and applications certifications and training as required by his
employer. Most of his training and certifications were online or computer based as the costs were
significant lower and more flexible for his work schedule. He chose the Blended Learning
Network for his computer science degree for the online format, part time flexibility and the
recognition of the university.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 58
Linda was working full time in the manufacturing industry as a program analyst and
chose to pursue the Product Development Engineering program at Big West University because
of the flexibility of the program. She lived in Long Beach, CA and was interested in attending
campus events. She was self-funded and was enrolled in the program for career advancement
opportunities. She started in Fall 2010 and took one course online.
Jeff worked in a construction firm in Hillsboro, OR. He started the Electrical Engineering
program in the Fall 2011 semester and took one course. He had just completed his first year with
this company and eligible for tuition assistance for qualified programs and wanted to have the
flexibility of completing the program online as a part time student. There were other universities
in Oregon but they did not have an online option or he felt were not rigorous enough to be
approved by his employer.
Max was working in the utilities industry for the city of Weymouth, MA. He started the
Civil Engineering program in the Fall 2012 semester and completed two courses. He had an
internship with the utilities company as an undergraduate that led to a full time job after
graduation. He had also applied to the program at Big West University in case he did not have a
full time job but wanted to continue his studies with the master’s program online for the
educational and professional growth. His employer also provided partial tuition assistance. He
wanted to start the master’s program right away since he was still in the “studying mood.”
Lucy was working for a manufacturing firm in Burbank, CA. She was interested in
professional growth and encouraged to pursue a master’s degree. She was familiar with the
programs at Big West University, as other colleagues had gone through the online programs
there. She started the Mechanical Engineering program in the Fall 2011 semester and took two
courses. Her employer provide tuition assistance for part time studies and also had a corporate
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 59
billing option with Big West University so they could pay her tuition directly. She was married
and had two school aged children.
Jacob worked in an aerospace corporation in Palmdale, CA and was a senior manager.
His company had tuition assistance programs for part time study and like Lucy, had several
colleagues that completed programs at Big West University. He started the Mechanical
Engineering program in the Fall 2010 semester and took one course online. He was married with
three kids. His wife was also an engineer working at the same aerospace corporation.
Question one: What are the factors that contribute to online student attrition in blended
learning programs?
Academic Interactions
Students reported stress and different negative experiences with faculty flexibilities and
course design inconsistencies that contributed to their decision to leave their academic program.
None of the students cited poor academic performance as reasons they stopped taking courses.
Data obtained from overall graduate GPAs confirmed that students were not below the minimum
overall grade point average of 3.0. Specific responses about course requirements and the lack of
flexibility came up during the interviews, and these issues did create stress for students.
Elizabeth felt that faculty were understanding but sometimes not flexible enough. She
recalled one instance she was traveling in Israel for work and her faculty would not let her take
the exam early from Israel prior to the long trip back to the U.S. This caused additional stress
because she was fatigued from traveling and focused on getting back to work in the office and
not on her exam. Greg and Max both had similar experiences with exams scheduled during their
business trips. They asked the professor if the exam could be rescheduled but it was not
approved. They had to take the exam at a different proctor site while on the business trip and
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 60
thought the extra stress might have affected their academic performance. Greg suggested
allowing students on travel to take exams at corporate sites to make it easier for them while on a
business trip. Kate also thought faculty were inflexible with deadlines related to assignments and
thought faculty should provide “reasonable flexibilities” with deadlines. She felt receiving zero
credit for turning something one day late because she had to find a location to scan the
assignment was unreasonable.
Interactions With Faculty
Interactions with faculty varied for the online students and affected students differently.
Alice was a local, online student and able to see faculty during office hours. She felt her
communication with faculty and teaching assistants were positive and they were responsive.
Melissa was also close to campus but never made it to office hours due to work commitments.
Most students made comments about not being able to contact faculty during their office hours
due to scheduling conflicts with work. The majority of online students communicated with
faculty by email or phone, but email was the primary communication method.
Greg communicated with faculty and teaching assistants via email but felt there were
challenges to not being able to physically meet with them. “But when you are working and when
you are not physically present and you are not able to put in that extra time I just felt – I fell
behind.” He had experience with another online course that enabled online office hours and
virtual whiteboards to work through solutions and felt that could have enhanced his experiences
with the online courses at Big West University. Brad felt faculty were not responsive and he
could not ask questions. He recalled one professor saying “I don’t answer any questions about
the homework period. I only answer questions about the lecture.” He found that while he did
nothave questions about the lecture materials he did need help with homework. He had email
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 61
communications with teaching assistants but could not get them on the phone for support and felt
it was difficult to constantly email questions.
I would fax them my work and they would be like – one problem would be twelve pages
of solution and I would be like I’m six pages into this and I have no idea where to go from here.
Can you please help me or give me some guidance or can I call and talk to you about it. They
would just email me back and say you have the coefficient wrong on page one. That’s all they
would say. One sentence. I’m like, that doesn’t help.
He felt that it would have been different if he was close to the university and could see
the faculty for help, but as an online student he did not get the same support. Brad was studying
and working from Alabama and taking evening courses at the university that were much later for
his time zone and said there was no support on weekends from faculty.
Interactions With Student Affairs
Interactions with student affairs at the university also varied. Most students felt the
information sent from advisors about their courses and registration processes was clear, but a few
students commented on the availability of support from advisors. Elizabeth compared her on
campus experience as a student at Big West University with her online experiences:
I did find that sometimes I did have questions as an online student that were not as quick
to get answered – either through trying to email my advisor, but not really knowing her, or being
really connected. I feel like you are always missing people. As a full time employee the office
isn’t always open when I have time to call so I’d try to call on my lunch break and that’s when
everybody was on their lunch break and things like that. It’s hard to kind of connect with the
students and what they might need.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 62
Denise did not get a lot of advisement from the Computer Science advisors because she
had to complete deficiency courses and did not get responses about course or program track
recommendations from faculty. Faculty would not advise her until she completed deficiency
courses. She wanted recommendations based on her background and her professional objectives
but was told to refer to websites with degree requirements and basic course information.
If there was someone who could speak to incoming students rather than just once they are
admitted I thought that would have been useful. I just felt that if someone was able to speak to
me up front about it I could have planned my classes a little bit more and had been a bit more
successful.
Kate and Max received a lot of communications about events and involvement on
campus, but they were both located out of state and felt that those events were not relevant and
he did not see any opportunities for social or community involvement. The level of social
interactions and interests varied among student participants.
Social Interactions
Students were asked to describe their experiences with social aspects of the university,
including any extracurricular activities and peer-group interactions. All participants talked about
some degree of difficulty of connecting with other students, particularly online. Kate enjoyed
one class in particular that used discussion boards and chat. She recalled the increased
interactivity with other students and teaching assistants, but her other courses did not use these
extra features in the other courses, which used only videos and assignments. She felt that there
was very little consistency between courses and that the ones that were more interactive could
have created requirements for other faculty and courses.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 63
Heather felt very isolated in the program, as she was taking courses from Minnesota. She
was given contact information of classmates in one course and a few emails were exchanged.
Her classmates were all male and she did not know if they were married or had kids to relate to
other priorities outside of the courses. She kept communications to course related items. She
thought having shared experiences outside of courses could help with enhancing a support
structure with other students.
Greg knew of other employees taking courses in various programs through the Blended
Learning Network but did not connect with them due to the distance. He felt having a small
study group would have been helpful even if his colleagues were enrolled in different courses as
they could have motivated each other to stay focused on course requirements. He could have also
gotten advice from colleagues that have completed their degree program but was not sure how to
reach out to them since his corporation was large.
Alice had a friend taking online courses with her and felt the experience may have been
negatively different if she did not have a classmate to work through issues even though the
Electrical Engineering program is mostly independent work. She added, “It helped because I
already had somebody that I knew that was taking the classes so we were able to work together if
we ran into issues. It probably would have been different if I didn’t know somebody already.”
Denise felt the group projects and working with classmates was extremely helpful. She
met one classmate in particular that helped her learn difficult concepts in the course but this was
through visiting office hours with an on campus student. “I really did see a big disconnect
between the understanding from the online students and the understanding from the students in
the classroom.” One of her group projects mixed on campus and online students but most
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 64
meetings were on campus and she felt it was difficult to accommodate schedules due to her
workload. She suggested that more should be done to arrange online student groups.
Professional Interests
Students responded to questions related to their interests with the academic and social
aspects of the institution. Most responses from students in this area highlighted the importance of
professional growth as the primary interests for online students. Most social aspects of the
university was not interesting to Elizabeth, she would have like to hear about some of the
research her faculty were involved in doing, but this was not a priority compared to her
professional growth through the program. She stated, “It probably wasn’t the most important
thing to me at the time. However, I did have an interest in hearing what other people do and the
research that’s going on and connecting at some level with professors. It is interesting but
probably not a priority.”
Max stated that the master’s degree was needed for upper management positions and was
more focused on the academic program than other social aspects of the University. Kate
discussed the lack of options for personal and social integration as well, “My main focus was the
professional growth, but also as an online student I didn’t really see any opportunities for social
or community involvement.”
Students provided different responses with regards to the importance of academic
integrations in their courses and programs. Alice was an Electrical Engineering major and felt
that most of the course work was independent. She stated “There were opportunities to
communicate with other students but it wasn’t necessary for any of the course work.” Brad
worked out of state and would have liked more online interactions with students but wasn’t
interested in University events. He talked about social events or being invited to the football
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 65
homecoming game at the University “I’m not paying thousands of dollars to fly out there for
that. I’ve got too much other stuff to do. The reason I went there is it’s a good university and it
had the degree that – it had a very specific program that I was wanting to get to because it had
the solid mechanics with structural analysis kind of emphasis and that’s what I do for a living.”
Competing Commitments
Students reflected back to their initial goals when they started their online master’s
program, the effects of external commitments and their decision to leave the program. Elizabeth
identified three reasons that made her stop taking courses through the Blended Learning
Network. First, her job was getting busier after she started working, “I also had some great
opportunities come up that made it more appealing to focus here instead of on school, including
some international travel experiences and like I said, a lot of overtime hours.” The second reason
was due to the applicability of the master’s program and her job. She stated, “The first couple of
classes I took I think it was beneficial to my career ambitions. I can see they very highly applied
for what I do at work, but the last couple of classes that I would be taking in the program were
really not as applicable to what I wanted to do so it just kind of dwindled there.” The third reason
cited was related to her workload. She was taking two courses per semester and stated that while
it would have been more manageable to take only one course per semester, she didn’t want to
switch to part time status and start paying her undergraduate loans. Those loans were deferred
when she was enrolled full time in the Blended Learning Network.
Kate stated that the program inconsistency and lack of flexibilities from faculty were the
main reasons she left the program. She started the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
program and took four online courses. She stated the following with regards to the inconsistency
with the program:
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 66
I felt like there wasn’t a lot of consistency on what the expectations for how the professor
designed the course were. They were very different each class. And I understand that that is
good in some respects because it gives professors the opportunity to approach it in their own
creative and unique ways, but in my experience the ones that worked really well – I wish that
certain aspects of that class could have been sort of requirements or expectations of professors, at
least minimum requirements.
With regards to program flexibilities she stated “To get a zero on an assignment because
you can’t get to a scanner until a day later I just think is unreasonable. It’s not benefiting the
student.”
Heather recalled several things happening in her life that created stress and reasons for
her to stop her enrollment. She had moved out of state to Minnesota for work and the opportunity
to be more involved in the technical field. She had very little support from her husband who
never went to college. She was working, getting her master’s degree online and also very
involved in raising their son. When she started taking her second class, her employer became
reluctant to provide financial support as with her first class. She did not realize that she had to
make the request for employer tuition support before every class. She had the following response
when faced with the prospect of having to pay for her program without any employer support,
“I think it was about $5000 a class, which would be about $25,000 total, which maybe is
a good thing, but I was counting on my company paying for it, so I wasn’t really budgeting or
financially prepared for that.”
Alice was in a similar position as Heather and discussed the financial commitment as the
main reason she stopped taking classes. She had gotten a new job and her new employer did not
provide any tuition support and she did not want to look into loans. She added, “I knew I was
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 67
going to be taking a new job at some point and I wasn’t sure the new company would be able to
match that and pay the tuition and so I wasn’t ready to make that financial commitment to pursue
it on my own and so I decided not to continue to take classes at that time.”
Denise was a Biomedical Engineering student and switched to Computer Science for the
master’s program for career growth at her company. She wanted to transition to a more technical
field but felt that she had too many prerequisites to take for the Computer Science degree that
she was not properly advised on the challenges. When she finished the prerequisite courses she
commented, “I was kind of finding out that the classes I had taken maybe weren’t the ones I
needed and then I had to take more classes than I had planned on and so ultimately it wasn’t
worth pursuing. I just felt that if someone was able to speak to me up front about it I could have
planned my classes a little bit more and had been a bit more successful.”
Greg, Brad, and Jacob made similar comments about the effect that the degree program
had on their personal lives. They all entered the master’s program soon after graduating and
getting new jobs. Greg commented that doing course work after 5:00 pm and watching over two
hours of lecture videos and homework after work every night was limiting his physical activities
and becoming “unhealthy.” He would add, “I just didn’t really have very much free time which
is kind of what you would expect for that type of commitment. I guess I just felt a little
overwhelmed.”
All students made comments about work being the primary priority with the master’s
degree helping job growth but still less of a priority. Brad discussed working 50+ hours per week
and his employer was "cracking the whip on getting things done and I was trying to take two
classes and they weren't the easiest classes either." He was also married but did not state that
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 68
marriage had an effect on his academic experience. He also stated the following with regards to
the demand of taking two courses his first semester:
So that put such a bad taste in my mouth and I was like this is not worth it. I feel like if I
would have worked 40 hours a week and taken one class, even though I feel like I wasn’t able to
get enough help online I think I probably would still be in the program right now. I was just like
this is not worth it. I am not doing this anymore.
Question Two: How Do Student Affairs Support Online Students in a Blended Learning
Program?
Staff in the student affairs area of academic departments were also interviewed to
determine how they support online students in the blended learning programs. Three advisors
were interviewed within three separate academic departments that offered programs in the
Blended Learning Network. Sara is an advisor for the [Department Omitted] and advises masters
and doctoral students in the department. This program currently offers six masters degrees to on
campus and online students through the Blended Learning Network. These masters programs
currently have 225 on campus students and 127 online students. Ingrid is an advisor for the
[Department Omitted]and also advises masters and doctoral students. The petroleum department
currently offers one master’s degree through the Blended Learning Network and has 131 on
campus and 21 online students. Jessica is an advisor for the [Department Omitted] and also
advises masters and doctoral students. There are four masters programs offered through the
Blended Learning Network with 141 on campus students and 10 online students.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 69
Advising and Helping
At the core of the student affairs services are advisement and helping students complete
courses and matriculate with a degree. Student affairs advisors were asked to describe services
they provide to online students. They all stated they provided academic advisement for students
generally related to course work and graduation requirements. Sara advises the largest number of
on campus and online students out of the three interviewed advisors. She states that there is some
flexibility in course requirements and helps students with selecting courses based on their
interests. She also will facilitate discussions with faculty if students have specific questions about
courses that she cannot answer. She sends emails for department announcements, academic
calendars and registration reminders, and other news to all students on campus and online. She
will make specific notes in her communications for on campus and online students though. For
example, emails about courses offered every semester for online students are highlighted.
Like Sara, Ingrid sends out communications from the departments to masters and
doctoral students and students on campus and online in the [Program Omitted] through the
Blended Learning Network. [Program Omitted] has several students located outside the United
States and Ingrid works with individual students to advise them on selection and degree
completion. She also coordinates exams for students located outside the United States with a
corporate partner company. Some international companies also send their students to graduation
ceremonies when they finish their degree programs online and Ingrid helps coordinate their
travels.
Jessica advises students in the [Department Omitted]. She sends out departmental
announcements via email to all students and does not differentiate larger communications for on
campus or online students. Emails are typically sent out weekly and include a range of
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 70
information including academic calendars, scholarship and internship opportunities, and
departmental news.
The advisors typically send out communications to all students on campus and online.
Sara discussed services like career services and counseling that were set up originally for on
campus students. She recalls one online student that had a miscarriage and was able to get
support in counseling and withdrawing from a class instead of dropping out of the program or
taking an extended leave. Online students did not indicate any interest in career services as they
were all already employed.
Ingrid sends emails weekly to all students in the [Department Omitted]. The emails
include university announcements as well as department specific news and academic reminders.
Ingrid will also differentiate emails and will send online students specific emails since she is able
to identify them, particularly those connected with corporate partners. Students are also invited
to join national and global professional societies and local chapters. The department also posts
news to their Facebook page and use it to support communication for all students in the program.
University services such as professional development services and seminars are restricted to on
campus students as there are issues around making those services and seminars available to
online students since the department has relationships with their employers.
Jessica communicates with all students in the [Program Omitted] without any distinctions
for on campus and online students. All students are invited to community events including
networking and social events. Most online students email for support and she feels "online
students can get a little lost in the mix.” She made this comment because online students
sometimes inquire about what services or seminars are available to them as online students.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 71
Academic Support and Coordination
In the [Department Omitted] that Sara advises, there are many adjunct faculty that teach
courses through the Blended Learning Network. The adjunct faculty are often not familiar with
policies regarding online students. Some of the adjuncts expected all online students to come to
campus for exams not realizing that many do not live in the local city and that there are proctors
set up for those online students outside of the city. They were not sure how to handle any special
accommodations or requests from online students and often sent it to Sara for clarifications.
Online students must also adhere to policies and guidelines related to continuous course
enrollments. Not all online students request leave of absences if they choose to stop enrolling but
the ones that contact her about job changes or other personal issues are advised to take an official
leave.
Ingrid’s [Program Omitted] must help international online students and international
corporate partners navigate through university policies. Students who are admitted to the
program receive official university email address and communications are done through this
address primarily, although there are sometimes issues for international students to access the
university email system and she must use their work or personal email addresses. Some
corporate partners are included in discussions and planning when an online student needs to take
a leave of absence. Often the students Human Resources staff or supervisor is involved in
communications about an online student that needs to take a leave of absence or has issues mid
semester with a course.
Online students in the [Department Omitted] can come to campus for any services but
many unfortunately do not attend. Jessica sends out communications to all students without
differentiating on campus and online students or which services are available on campus only.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 72
She works with the Blended Learning Network to assist faculty with administrative and
academic support including setting up teaching assistants and course scheduling. She helps
online students understand academic policies with regards to requirements, scheduling, and
grades.
Student Learning and Development
Transformative learning is an important student affairs consideration because it looks at
various frames of reference with regard to student learning (NASPA, 2004). Sara helps build
initial cohorts for on campus and online students with initial communications. Since course
requirements are not rigid and online students take courses part time there is less continued
support of the cohort identification after their first semester. Sara states “Communications with
online students usually involves their course enrollments. We have professional development and
other services for them but they don’t usually follow up or need these services.”
Ingrid says faculty teaching courses often make groups in classes and combine on
campus and online students in groups. They feel this helps develop both the on campus and the
online students when mixed. Many online students join as cohorts through their employers and
study as groups. They typically go through the program together taking the same courses and
helping each other through their connections at work. With regards to other student development
programs, online students do not typically use career services are given recommendations to join
professional societies and organizations. Some programs are global and the University attends
several conferences and can meet with students during these events.
Jessica does not recall many online students that have asked for additional student
development resources. She states, “Online students typically have more academic related issues
and time management is important. Some students have expressed interest in attending career
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 73
services for professional growth but there aren’t many services available online. Online students
have asked for more consistency in communications and options for online services.” Students
are typically focused on course load and enrollments.
Question Three: What Type Of Support Services Address Retention for Online Students in
Blended Learning Programs?
There were limited responses about services that addressed retention for online students
from student affairs staff. One process identified by all advisors was related to student probation.
Student probation identifies students’ final grades at the end of every semester along with their
cumulative graduate GPA. All students must maintain a minimum of an overall 3.0 GPA in order
to graduate and students under a 3.0 graduate GPA are highlighted and sent academic warning
letters and placed on academic probation for monitoring. Sara sent emails to students in her
program on academic probation with a list of their remaining courses and grades that are needed
to achieve minimum GPA requirements. None of the participants or students in this population
had lower than a 3.0 graduate GPA.
The academic probation process is also reactive and does not provide a mechanism to
contact students before they might encounter academic difficulties. Sara believes that most
online students do not have academic difficulties because they met high admissions standards,
are more mature and take courses part time. Some of the online students did contact the office for
guidance when work or personal life had conflicts with their courses. Lucy for example took a
leave of absence for a semester when she had a baby. Ingrid receives notifications of work
schedules from employers that would directly affect their students’ ability to complete courses
and Ingrid puts those students on an academic leave for the semester.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 74
Advisors also provided course plans for students and helped them schedule their courses.
Some students stated that would have liked more information about specific course selections.
For example, Denise had to take several pre-requisite courses before being admitted into one of
the more technical programs. She could not get any course recommendations for the degree
program until she was formally admitted. Once she was formally admitted and started taking
courses in the degree program, she felt that the program was not a proper match for her
professional goals and had wished she was advised more about the program before she took the
pre-requisite courses. Kate felt that interactions with faculty on course recommendations was
poor and her experience from one course to another varied greatly and had a negative effect on
her experience. She believed that better advisement from staff or faculty about the program
details to provide students recommendations on course options based on their professional
interests and consistency with how courses are set up and utilize interactive technologies would
have been beneficial.
Most of the online students interviewed expressed a need for time management skills.
Several of them had just started new jobs and were not anticipating the high demands of their
jobs. Sara has stated that time management is a big issue for many of the online students as they
are working full time, have families, and taking courses. She recommends to newly admitted
students start with one online course to make sure they can balance their academic, professional,
and personal lives. Ingrid added that online students that stopped taking courses and did not
request a formal leave of absence can still petition to continue in the program without applying
for admissions again. Online students have five years to complete the degree program and can
petition for two more years if needed. Half of the students interviewed stated they would
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 75
consider returning to the program if they did not have to apply again and when their professional
and/or personal lives would allow them more time to resume their academic studies.
None of the students interviewed were interested in professional development services
offered through the engineering school such as resume review, interview skills, or job fairs.
However, several students did indicate that one reason they stopped taking courses was that they
did not feel the return on investment was worth the time and costs. Miles got advice from his
uncle, who was also an engineer, and advised him that the increases in pay by obtaining a
master’s degree would not have been significant enough for the amount of tuition it would have
cost to finish the program. Other students made similar comments with regards to the investment
of time and tuition costs not having a return in professional pay. This is an area that the
engineering school’s professional services could have provided by advising students through
professional outcomes by evaluating salary data and alumni feedback. The summary of students’
responses are provided in the Table 3 below.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 76
Table 3
Summary of Student Responses
Name
Background and
goals
Academic
Systems Social Systems
Institutional and
External
Commitments
Elizabeth
Seeking
Employment
Opportunities
Wanted more
flexibility with
course
requirements
More interested in
research and
professional
associations than
social aspects
Workload
increases and
program was not
applicable to
professional
growth. Could not
take one class
because she did
not want to start
paying education
loans
Kate
Career
Advancement
Little
consistency with
course
experiences and
structure,
Faculty were too
strict with
policies
Would have liked
to see more social
interactions and
events. Did not
feel part of
University
Program
inconsistency,
faculty policies
were too rigid and
not flexible
Heather
Career
Advancement,
Acquire technical
skills
Faculty were
accommodating,
liked having
deadlines
Felt isolated,
Would have liked
to see more social
interactions
Struggles with
getting work to
pay for classes
every semester,
lack of spouse
support for
education
Greg
Professional
Development,
Employer tuition
support,
Flexibility
Difficulty with
online isolation
versus in person
support
Would have liked
in person and
online study
groups
Physical and
personal activities
were being
neglected

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 77
Table 3, continued
Alice
Career
Advancement,
Employer tuition
support for
specific degree
programs
Enjoyed online
interactions with
faculty and TA
Would have liked
to see more social
interactions, had
one colleague
going through
program to help
New employer was
not providing
tuition support,
program would not
have significant
return on
investment
Brad
Employer tuition
support,
recommendations
from colleagues
Lack of
instructional
support, late
class schedules
and lack of
weekend support
Interactions were
limited to
courses, would
have liked to see
more social
interactions
Workload was too
high, quality of life
considerations
with professional
and academic
responsibilities
Denise
Alumni
experience,
Acquire technical
knowledge
Lack of
instructional
support, more
interaction with
TAs than Faculty
Was not aware of
social
interactions, did
not have time for
social aspects
Missing
fundamentals and
felt behind. Lack
of faculty
interactions
Melissa
Professional
development,
Tuition assistance
Advisors helped
with course
selection,
Faculty were
good but not
familiar with
policies
Wanted more
social interactions
with other online
students,
particularly
women
Degree program
would not have
significant return
on investment
Miles
Professional
development,
program
recognition,
flexibilities
Lack of
interactivity with
Faculty and TAs
outside the class
Was not aware of
social
interactions,
would like to see
more electronic
social options
More focused on
job, degree
program would not
have significant
return on
investment
Linda
Career
advancement,
flexibility
Experience with
advisors and
faculty were
good,
communications
mostly via email
Did not have time
for social aspects
Professional
workload too high
with new job
Jeff
Career
advancement,
Acquire technical
knowledge
Difficulty with
projects and
communications
primarily email
Did not
participate in any
social aspects of
University
Degree program
would not have
significant return
on investment

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 78
Table 3, continued
Max
Seeking
employment
opportunities, part
time flexibility
Positive course
and faculty
experiences
Was not aware of
social interactions
but would likely
not engage in
social aspects
Was not ready to
handle increased
workload and
course
requirements
Lucy
Professional
development,
flexibility for
work and family
life
Attended courses
in person,
Wanted more
flexibility from
faculty on
assignments
Went to a few
events, Social
aspects were not
important
More focused on
job and family,
Less time available
to keep up with
courses
Jacob
Alumni,
Professional
development,
flexibility
Positive course
and faculty
experiences
Did not
participate in any
social aspects of
University
More focused on
job and family,
Less time available
to keep up with
courses

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 79
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to look at factors related to online student attrition in
blended learning programs and the strategies of student affairs in providing support services to
these students. Findings from this study will help university administrators and student affairs
professionals identify effective strategies to support online students in blended programs and
minimize student attrition. This study also looked at the perceptions and motivations of online
learners related to support services and the importance of community or social integration for
online learners. This study aims to provide additional research to the small yet growing literature
on effective strategies to supporting online students in blended and online learning programs.
This study used Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure to focus on online
students in a blended learning program that left the institutional system. Tinto’s model is critical
to this study because it looks at both the social and intellectual integration conditions for
continued persistence. It examines the critical elements related to institutional and external
commitments and how they affect a student’s decision to stop enrolling in courses. This model
also looks at the formal and informal systems within an institution to evaluate how students are
affected and how external forces play a role in a student’s decision to leave the institutional
system. The three research questions guiding this study were:
1. What are the factors that contribute to online student attrition in blended learning
programs?
2. How do student affairs support online students in a blended learning program?
3. What type of support services address retention for online students in blended learning
programs?
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 80
The importance of online student attrition becomes critical for higher education
administrators given the growth of online programs over the past 10 years (Allen & Seaman,
2011). Interviews of online students who left the Blended Learning Network and advisors who
support the students were conducted to address the extant literature surrounding online student
services, particularly online student attrition. This study provided information from students
interviewed to determine why they stopped taking courses in the Blended Learning Program and
how Tinto’s framework can be applied to this group of students. The results of this study seek to
expand on the role of student affairs in supporting online students that is typically “limited to the
discussion of a narrow set of student services” (Dare, Zapata, & Thomas, 2005, p. 39).
Discussion of Findings
This study was structured around major themes found in the literature and addressed
Tinto’s model of student departure. The role of advisors and online students’ responses was
critical for this review. This study found that online students had different reasons for enrolling
in blended learning programs as well as reasons for leaving them. The findings present student
affairs and academic leaders with challenges in creating retention services particularly when
services are not differentiated between on campus and online students. The key findings from
this study include the following areas; (1) professional goals and networks, (2) the faculty
advisor, and (3) student affairs redefined.
Professional Goals and Networks
The students in this study were either working full time or transitioned to a full time
working position during their academic experiences with the Blended Learning Network. Of the
fourteen students, only two of them were seeking jobs when they started the degree program and
the rest were working full time. However, all students interviewed were working full time when
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 81
they stopped taking courses. Career advancement or finding a job was important to all the
students pursuing their graduate degrees, although four of the students working full time labeled
the purpose as “Professional Development.” The specific professional relevance of the degree
programs for these students matched findings from Fischer & Baird (2005) and Taylor & Holley
(2009). Three students stated interests in degree programs that were more technical than their
undergraduate degrees, “providing students with new abilities that benefit them throughout their
entire academic and employment careers” (Dizuban et al., 2004, p. 4). These students wanted a
position change that focused on more technical functions and a higher salary. All students were
interested in pursuing online degree programs for the flexibility so they could work full time
(Hirt et al., 2009; Parsad et al., 2008; Taylor & Holley, 2009).
Peer Connections. Students were asked to describe their experiences with social aspects
of the University including any extracurricular activities and peer-group interactions.
Extracurricular activities outside the academic experiences were not important to the students
interviewed. Even though online students received communication for events outside their
courses, they did not feel fully connected to the University because they could seldom attend
those events in person and were also more focused on their academic courses and professional
growth. Studies have shown that this need to integrate students into the campus environment is
not critical to academic success for online students (Hirt et al., 2003; Taylor & Holley, 2009).
Online student responses in this area revealed that their social connections may be better
directed at connecting with other online students and classmates in the program by enhancing
peer-group interactions. Online students were all working professionals when they left the
program and several students believed their academic experiences could have been improved by
knowing other online professional students. Students felt that there would be more in common
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 82
professionally and personally with other online students though they had issues connecting to
their classmates. Half of the students interviewed stated that they would have liked to see more
interactivity with other students by using more online groups or discussions. In this context,
social interactions were still critical but focused on course and program discussions and not
around nonacademic or extracurricular activities.
Professional and Personal Conflicts. The need to dedicate more time on their
professional work was a significant reason many students decided to stop taking courses. Five
students cited an increased workload from their jobs as the primary reason they stopped taking
courses. Their commitment to their jobs took priority over their academic commitments. One
student was having an increased workload when she found a job but did not want to reduce
courses to less than half time as her undergraduate loans were deferred and did not want to start
paying the loans. She decided that taking on additional loans was not worthwhile based on what
she would spend on tuition. Three other students expressed similar concerns about the high cost
of tuition and debt from loans. They consulted with colleagues and family and decided that the
costs involved with finishing the degree program would not be recovered through potential wage
increases as a result of having the master’s degree.
Online students’ commitments and motivations provided insights into why they started
the degree program and reasons they stopped taking classes. Students may leave an institutional
system because of incongruence and isolation (Tinto, 1987). Incongruence can occur when there
is a mismatch in academic and social systems between the student and the institution. Academic
incongruence is characterized by mismatches in student skills and interests and the academic
requirements of the course and program. The academic requirements can be either too
challenging or too easy. For many online students, academic content needed to be aligned with
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 83
their professional interests (Fischer & Baird, 2005; Taylor & Holley, 2009). In this area,
incongruence was highlighted by the mismatch between the students’ professional commitments
and the professional benefits of their academic programs. These students were not able to justify
the time and money needed to complete their academic degree.
Faculty Advisors
Students described their experiences in the university environment related to their
academic performance and interactions with faculty. Most online students wanted a little more
flexibility from faculty with regards to policies like turning in assignments late or taking make
up exams due to work schedules. They felt that faculty were not well informed on policies and in
most cases they were not sure if advisors could help provide faculty with guidance or feedback.
Several students cited examples of wanting faculty to be more flexible with deadlines or giving
partial credit for assignments turned in late. Students felt rigid policies hurt their academic
experiences especially when they have work priorities. For online students, more burden is
placed on faculty who are often seen as the primary source of information (Cain et al., 2003).
Faculty provide both academic and social representations of the institution and the absence of
these faculty interactions and availability may be causes of student departure (Tinto, 1987).
According to Tinto (1987) the degree and quality of personal interactions are important
considerations for student persistence and insufficient or inadequate interactions can lead to
isolation and attrition. Sara advises the students in the [Department Omitted] department and
helps faculty, particularly the high amount of adjuncts, interpret policies and procedures related
to online students and how to handle special accommodations. This department used a lot of
adjunct faculty to teach their courses and Sara guided them on handling special accommodations
or requests from online students. Ingrid advised the [Program Omitted] degree program and
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 84
works directly with student’s supervisors or leaning managers at their corporations. This helped
Ingrid advise faculty of any student issues that might arise and where accommodations can be
provided. For example, they have online students in the Middle East and their work week is
Sunday through Thursday and some assignment and exams dates must be flexible to
accommodate that difference. Jessica did not have a lot of experiences in the Civil Engineering
department coordinating with faculty for policies and exceptions related to online students. She
handled mostly administrative functions like setting up courses and teaching assistants.
Student Affairs Redefined
Understanding student motivations, maturity, and support needs are critical issues for
student affairs. In blended learning programs, complexity for student affairs is present because
there are multiple types of students; traditional, face-to-face students, fully online students, and
traditional students taking online courses. Students in these groups can have different support
needs that challenge notions of equivalency theory for student affairs, which is providing
equivalent services for on campus and online students (Hirt et al., 2003). Two of the advisors
interviewed stated that their most important advice to online students was time management,
which is a finding supported in the literature. “Helping students to cope with the demands of the
online program proved one of the most crucial student support functions for faculty and staff”
(Taylor & Holley, 2009, p. 98). Furthermore, the burden of constant communication should be
shifted away from students and towards student affairs. As most of the online students were
working full time, student affairs must be in constant support with students to provide support or
coordination with faculty whenever possible to provide reasonable accommodations for students’
external commitments.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 85
NASPA (2010) highlighted the importance of collaboration between different units of the
University under the area of ‘Law, Policy, and Governance.’ For online students in a Blended
Learning Network, this area can greatly impact the experiences of online students who do not
regularly meet with advisors to discuss any issues they are facing. Furthermore, all three advisors
in this study supported both on campus and online students and a lack of resources may hinder
their ability to provide differentiated services and be more responsive to online students. A lack
of resources requires more collaboration between various levels of student services but can have
also have “an exponentially negative impact on the outcomes of the learning when it is remote”
(Mitchell & Honore, 2007, p. 147).
All three advisors sent email communications to on campus and online students with
respect to campus events. Sara and Ingrid differentiated emails to on campus and online students
when necessary such announcing academic plans for online students since not all courses in the
degree program were available to them as online students. Students would sometimes ask them
about more online access to seminars, but this was difficult depending on the event details and
technical resources needed to record the seminars. Student affairs should focus on professional
interests for students by promoting professional seminars and organizations that online students
have expressed more interests in as well as social networking events to meet other professional
students.
Faculty were usually the primary contact from students who want to create study groups
but it was usually limited to providing email addresses or discussion boards. In most cases
students went to faculty initially for all matters related to a course including any difficulties that
arise from being an online student working full time. Online students could have reached out to
advisors for many of the challenges they were facing with courses including those related to
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 86
work schedules and time zone differences. In general, students interviewed did not fully
understand the role of their student advisors. Because the degree requirements were clear,
students did not need much help from advisors to select courses. However, many students had
questions about electives and wanted more information about certain courses for their
professional relevance. Faculty were not always responsive on these matters. Students felt that
their experiences with faculty varied along these lines and often correspondence and
communication with faculty was lacking. These findings again reinforce the need for student
affairs to provide consistent communications and interaction with online students. Student affairs
should identify services early and regularly so that students are aware of the resources
throughout the semester. In many cases, students could contact student affairs directly for the
additional support even matters related to the course like the need for more interactivity or
reasonable accommodations. The responsibility to coordinate with faculty for these services is
best suited for student affairs.
All three advisors discussed services that can support student retention. The primary
service that advisors support are ‘Leaves of Absences’ that allows online students to not enroll in
a class in a given semester but still maintain their status in a program. Students use this leave for
major work changes including projects and office moves or in some cases personal reasons. This
allows students to take a semester off and handle the extra stresses in their life without dropping
out of the program altogether.
All the advisors also stressed the importance of time management for online students.
They make sure students are aware of the academic work and requirements and to consider
dropping classes if they are taking more than one every semester. However, the advisors make
these general suggestions to all students in the online program and do not necessarily provide the
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 87
information individually to students unless online students contact them about workload issues
affecting their course completion. Detwiler (2008) found that time management skills were
critical to online student success: “Information from these diaries suggest that a student’s ability
to meet learning objectives is less dependent on the course content delivery mechanism than it is
on the student’s motivation, maturity, and time management skills” (p. 131).
Advisors also received progress reports for all students below a 3.0 graduate GPA every
semester to help them identify academic difficulties. The online students interviewed did not
have academic difficulties in terms of grades but a few had mismatches in their professional and
academic goals. One of the students interviewed felt the program was too inconsistent with
respect to the courses and instructional methods. She would have liked courses to use more
interactive technologies and follow a template that included ways to interact with faculty and
other students.
One student felt behind in the Computer Science program because she was originally a
Biomedical Engineering undergraduate. She felt that even though she was admitted, she had a lot
of deficiency courses to take and did not receive any guidance on the Computer Science track
and courses until she finished the deficiency courses and decided to stop taking courses because
she could not make the connection on the value of earning a Computer Science degree since she
was still making up deficiency courses. While faculty were often not responsive for this
guidance, student affairs could have coordinated the information as professional guidance for all
students.
Summary of Findings
Research question one asked “What are the factors that contribute to online student
attrition in blended learning programs?” All online students in this study chose the degree
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 88
programs offered through the Blended Learning Network for the flexibility to complete their
degrees online while working. The external commitments related to the increased workload for
these students were significant reasons many of them stopped taking courses. Students felt that
faculty were often not flexible or aware of policies and procedures to provide reasonable
accommodations around student’s professional workloads and commitments. Another major
reason students stopped taking courses was they felt the return on the investment of time and
money on getting the master’s degree was not worth it financially.
Research question two asked “How do student affairs support online students in a
blended learning program? In most cases, particularly in communications, student affairs
advisors did not differentiate services for on campus and online students. Two of the advisors
provided more support for students in terms of working directly with faculty and corporate
partners to better support online students by coordinating reasonable accommodations for
homework and exams around significant professional deadlines or travel schedules. Advisors
helped student with time management skills by advising them on the number of courses to take
or taking ‘Leaves of Absences’ when work or personal life affected their ability to progress
academically.
Research question three asked “What type of support services address retention for online
students in blended learning programs?” Few services addressed retention specifically but the
services cited by students and advisors as beneficial include; Time management and better
coordination with faculty regarding policies and procedures for online students. While advisors
formally addressed retention from an academic probation stand point, none of the students
interviewed cited academic difficulties as the reason they stopped taking courses. Students had
multiple reasons for stopping enrollment due to an increased workload, personal decisions about
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 89
the value and costs of the master’s degree, and financially concerns with paying when employers
stopped providing tuition support. In all cases, these students did not discuss these reasons with
their advisors in any manner but a few indicated they were still interested in opportunities to
finish their degree program. When asked about specific student services that addressed retention,
two of the advisor cited academic progress reports every semester that identified students with
below passing GPAs.
Implications for Practice
Administrators and advisors supporting online students either in purely online programs
or blended programs can improve their communications and support services for online students.
The need to differentiate services for online students is evident based on the feedback provided
in this study and the lack of literature available on how to differentiate these services (Dziuban et
al., 2004). The landscape of online and blended learning requires administrators and advisors to
change the way they need to provide support to these students in more comprehensive and
collaborative ways (NASPA, 2004). Effective retention strategies for online students are not
clearly defined in the current literature but several recommendations can be made to better
support online students in blended programs to minimize online student attrition.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1: Create a Communication Plan for Online Students who Stop Enrolling
in Courses
While advisors had general communication plans for all students with regards to
academic requirements like course registrations and degree competition, there was no
communication plan for students who stopped enrolling in courses. A formal communication
plan every semester can consist of registration reminders and individual contacts to online
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 90
students that did not enroll in courses every semester. This contact will provide advisors with
potential responses from online students that may allow advisors to create individualized
graduation plans for these students and can focus on requirements left for completion and not
just academic warnings. For example, two students interviewed expressed interest in finishing
their degree program. Most of the students that chose to leave the program could have been
given ‘Leave of Absences’ so that they could still maintain their student status and individually
followed up with every semester. Additionally it is important to contact students who stopped
enrolling to examine their reasons and identify support if needed.
Currently much of the responsibility for academic planning is put on students to
communicate with the institution if issues arise that affect their ability to enroll in courses.
Student affairs should consider more customized study plans and send registration reminders that
highlight courses that closely align with students’ professional interests. Students that do not
enroll should be asked to contact student affairs to determine what additional support or
resources may be needed.
Recommendation 2: Improve Administrative and Academic Coordination
The major recommendation in this area includes improving communications and
coordination with faculty, as they often are the primary source of information for students and
may not be informed on policies and procedures for this group of students (Cain et al., 2003).
Faculty should also be given templates for teaching blended courses with on campus and online
students that includes policies specific to online students. These templates provide more
consistency for online students particularly how faculty can support interactivity between faculty
and student and peer-group interactions and not about course content. Faculty and student affairs
advisors should have more technology support to better engage online students beyond email
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 91
communications. Students wanted more interaction with faculty in particular and felt that if they
were on campus they could meet with them in person. As an online student, there was little
option other than email for faculty support. Advisors can work directly with faculty to create
virtual office hours or discussion boards to allow for more interactivity between faculty and
students. In particular, the high number of adjuncts that teach courses in the Blended Learning
Network could use the additional communications, support, and training to better understand the
policies and support options for online students. The need for faculty and advisors to also
understand technology resources is beneficial to helping online students throughout their
academic and professional careers (Dziuban et al., 2004).
Recommendation 3: Create Peer-Group Activities for Courses, Programs, and Professional
Interests
Online students reported that professional development and growth was their primary
interest in earning their master’s degree. While they were not interested in the social aspects of
the university, they did want more peer-group support for their courses and profession. These
students felt isolated in the program and did not know how to ask for additional support for peer-
group interactions for online students. One student indicated that feeling isolated in the degree
program was one reason he stopped taking courses. Faculty would sometimes provide email
addresses for other online students in the course but it was viewed as insufficient from those
students who did ask for more interactions with peers. Advisors should work directly with the
online students to create peer-group interactions. For example, creating online discussion groups
for courses or departments for online only students would allow students to freely communicate
with other online students in their course and in their program. Tinto (1987) suggests that peer-
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 92
group interactions supports social systems that leads to student integration and can help
minimize departure.
Recommendation 4: Discuss Financial Aid Options and Professional Outcomes
Administrators and advisors can help online students understand financial aid options.
Two students stopped enrolling in courses because they had difficulties getting consistent tuition
support from their employers. These students could have benefited from understanding their
financial aid and loan options. Student affairs advisors stated that students receive little financial
aid information other than loans. The Blended Learning Network should additionally consider
conducting alumni panels featuring online students that graduated and had professional growth
as a result earning their master’s degree online. Online students may also benefit from
connecting to alumni within their corporation to serve as mentors in addition to peer-group
enhancements. The professional development services can target career outcomes as a priority
for online students who are working full time.
Future Research
This research provides additional insights into reasons online students leave blended
learning programs and the role of student affairs in supporting the online students. While this
study was focused on the online students in a blended program, the results may be applicable to
online only programs. The structure of this study can be replicated in online only programs or
other blended learning programs that want to focus on effective student services for online
students. This study used Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure to examine the impacts
of external communities and the significance of academic and social systems in higher education.
This model can be applied to other online programs that want to focus on the role of student
affairs or to identify the extent of which this model is applicable to different student populations.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 93
One of the key findings from this study related to financial aid can also be examined in
future studies. Two students cited a lack of financial support as the primary reason they left the
program. The decision to take on debt as an investment in professional growth is not uncommon
in higher education but there is little research done in the area of online student attrition. Future
research can focus on the financial factors that might address online student attrition. As the
landscape of online education keeps changing and with the adoption and interest of low or no
costs Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) increases, the review of financial consideration
becomes more important.
Conclusion
This study focused on the factors that contributed to online student attrition in blended
learning programs and student affairs support services. The study found that external
commitments of online students who were working full time contributed to their decision to
leave the program. Additionally student affairs could play a more visible role to online students
and serve as the primary contact support. Student affairs practitioners could also work with
faculty in the areas of assignment deadline flexibility and professional guidance for course
planning.
This study used the grounded theory approach to study the phenomenon of online
student attrition particularly as it related to Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure. The
data provides additional support to suggest those online students’ external commitments in this
model affects attrition the most. An emerging theory from these findings suggest that working
professionals in online or blended learning programs should be supported by better coordinating
student affairs and faculty services to manage student expectations and accommodate reasonable
flexibilities of students’ professional commitments to reduce attrition. This study focused on the
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 94
population of online students that left the university in a blended degree program to help add to
the research field of online student attrition and student affairs for blended degree programs.
With significant online and blended degree offerings and enrollments at universities, the
development of student affairs and effective strategies to support online students will be a critical
review in the near future.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 95
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Appendix A
Student Affairs Competency Areas Highlights
Advising and Helping The Advising and Helping competency area addresses the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to providing counseling and
advising support, direction, feedback, critique, referral, and guidance
to individuals and groups.
One should be able to:
Utilize technology (e.g., websites, social networking, video clips, podcasts) to address
students’ mental health issues.
Develop avenues for student involvement in mental health promotion and de-stigmatization of
mental illness (e.g., creating student advisory councils, peer education programs, advising
student mental health organizations).
Provide and arrange for the necessary training and development for staff to enhance their
advising and helping skills.
Collaborate with other campus departments and organizations as well as surrounding
community agencies and other institutions of higher education to address mental health
concerns in a comprehensive, collaborative way.
Assessment, Evaluation, and
Research
The Assessment, Evaluation, and Research competency area
(AER) focuses on the ability to use, design, conduct, and
critique qualitative and quantitative AER analyses; to
manage organizations using AER processes and the results
obtained from them; and to shape the political and ethical
climate surrounding AER processes and uses on campus..
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 100
One should be able to:
Design ongoing and periodic data collection efforts such that they are sustainable, rigorous, as
unobtrusive as possible, and technologically current.
Contribute to the understanding of colleagues, faculty, and others in the institution of the
relationship of departmental AER processes to learning outcomes and goals at the student,
department, division, and institutional levels.
Lead the writing of assessment and evaluation reports and other research studies and activities
that include translation of data analyses into goals and action.
Equity, Diversity, and
Inclusion
The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) competency area
includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to create
learning environments that are enriched with
diverse views and people. It is also designed to create an
institutional ethos that accepts and celebrates differences
among people, helping to free them of any misconceptions
and prejudices.
One should be able to:
Use appropriate technology to aid in identifying individuals with diverse
backgrounds as well as assessing progress towards successful integration
of these individuals into the campus environment.
Identify systemic barriers to equality and inclusiveness, and then advocate for and implement
means of dismantling them.
Create ongoing strategic plans for the continued development of diversity initiatives and
inclusive practices throughout the institution and ensure that competence in these areas is fully
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 101
integrated into departmental
practices throughout the campus.
Ethical Professional Practice The Ethical Professional Practice competency area pertains
to the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to understand
and apply ethical standards to one’s work. While ethics is an
integral component of all the competency areas, this
competency area focuses specifically on the integration of
ethics into all aspects of self and professional practice.
One should be able to:
Identify and seek to resolve areas of incongruence between personal,
institutional, and professional ethical standards.
Engage in effective consultation and provide advice regarding ethical
issues with colleagues and students.
History, Philosophy, and
Values
The History, Philosophy, and Values competency area
involves knowledge, skills, and attitudes that connect the
history, philosophy, and values of the profession to one’s
current professional practice. This competency area
embodies the foundations of the profession from which
current and future research and practice will grow. The
commitment to demonstrating this competency area ensures
that our present and future practices are informed by an
understanding of our history, philosophy, and values.
One should be able to:
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 102
Articulate how historical lessons will inform one’s future practice.
Participate in developing new philosophical approaches and responsive values of the
profession.
Partner with faculty for teaching and research regarding the profession.
Human and Organizational
Resources
The Human and Organizational Resources competency area
includes knowledge, skills, and attitudes used in the
selection, supervision, motivation, and formal evaluation of
staff; conflict resolution; management of the politics of
organizational discourse; and the effective application of
strategies and techniques associated with financial resources,
facilities management, fundraising, technology use, crisis
management, risk management, and sustainable resources.
One should be able to:
Develop appropriate alliances with others as a means to efficiently and effectively complete
work assignments; recognize how the formation of alliances can either enhance or detract from
one’s professional credibility or the use of teams.
Evaluate the effectiveness of current staffing patterns and supporting job descriptions in regard
to a unit’s ability to effectively meet institutional, divisional, and unit mission and goals.
Discern the pace in which technological advances should appropriately be incorporated into
organizational life (with students, staff, and other constituents).
Law, Policy, and Governance The Law, Policy, and Governance competency area includes
the knowledge, skills, and attitudes relating to policy
development processes used in various contexts, the
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 103
application of legal constructs, and the understanding of
governance structures and their impact on one’s professional
practice.
One should be able to:
Implement best practices of the profession to advance one’s institution with
respect to access, affordability, accountability, and quality.
Appropriately consult with students or represent the student voice in
departmental, divisional, and institutional policy development efforts.
Leadership The Leadership competency area addresses the knowledge,
skills, and attitudes required of a leader, whether it be a
positional leader or a member of the staff, in both an
individual capacity and within a process of how individuals
work together effectively to envision, plan, effect change in
organizations, and respond to internal and external
constituencies and issues.
One should be able to:
Think critically and creatively, and imagine possibilities for solutions that do not currently
exist or are not apparent.
Create environments that encourage students to view themselves as having the potential to
make meaningful contributions to their communities and be civically engaged in their
communities (residence hall, campus, local, state, or national).
Facilitate ongoing development, implementation and assessment of goal attainment at the unit
and/or institutional level that is congruent with institutional mission and strategic plans.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 104
Personal Foundations The Personal Foundations competency area involves the
knowledge, skills, and attitudes to maintain emotional,
physical, social, environmental, relational, spiritual, and
intellectual wellness; be self-directed and self-reflective;
maintain excellence and integrity in work; be comfortable
with ambiguity; be aware of one’s own areas of strength and
growth; have a passion for work; and remain curious.
One should be able to:
Seek environments and collaborations that provide adequate challenge
such that personal development is promoted, and provide sufficient
support such that development is possible.
Student Learning and
Development
The Student Learning and Development competency area
addresses the concepts and principles of student development
and learning theory. This includes the ability to apply theory
to improve and inform student affairs practice, as well as
understanding teaching
and training theory and practice.
One should be able to:
Identify the limitations in applying existing theories and models to varying student
demographic groups.
Design programs and services to promote student learning and development that are based on
current research on student learning and development theories.
Evaluate and assess the effectiveness of learning and teaching
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 105
opportunities at the division level, communicate its effectiveness to the
larger campus community, and explain opportunities for collaboration and
integrated learning opportunities.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 106
Appendix B
Recruitment Letter

Hello _________________________,

My name is Binh Tran and I am an EdD student in the [information withheld]

The title of my dissertation study is: Online Student Attrition in Blended Learning Programs

For my study, I intend to examine factors that relate to online student attrition while studying in
blended learning programs and the strategies of student affairs in providing support services to
these students. Findings from this study will help university administrators and student affairs
identify effective strategies to support online learning students in blended programs and review
student attrition. This study will also look at the perceptions and motivations of online learners
related to support services and the importance of community or social integration for distance
learners. This study aims to provide additional research to the small yet growing literature on
effective strategies to supporting online students in blended and online learning programs.

The reason I am contacting you is because I have identified you as an online student that was
enrolled in the courses at the [information withheld] but haven’t taken courses for at least a year
following your previous enrollment. I would like to arrange a one-on-one interview with you at
the date and time of your choosing either on campus at [information withheld], via phone, or via
technology assisted video conferencing. This interview should take approximately one hour of
your time.

You will receive a $50 Amazon gift card for your time if you choose to participate. You do not
have to answer all the questions in order to receive the card. The card will be emailed to you
after the interview.
Please see attached information sheet for the details related to this study.

If you are interested or have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached
at [information withheld]

I look forward to hearing back from you about your future participation in my study.

Sincerely,

Binh Tran
[information withheld]
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 107
Appendix C
Information Sheet
[information withheld]
INFORMATION SHEET FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH

A Dissertation Study Examining Online Student Attrition in Blended Learning Programs
You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Binh Tran, M.S. and
[information withheld], Doctor of Education Program at the [information withheld]. The results
of this study will contribute to Binh Tran’s doctoral dissertation. You were selected as a possible
participant in this study because you are a distance student at [information withheld]. A total of
approximately ten to twenty subjects will be selected from this institution to participate. Your
participation is voluntary. Please take as much time as you need to read the information sheet.
You may also decide to discuss it with your family or friends. You will be given a copy of this
form.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study will look at factors related to online student attrition in blended learning
programs and the strategies of student affairs in providing support services to these students.
Findings from this study will help university administrators and student affairs identify effective
strategies to support online learning students in blended programs and minimize student attrition.
This study will also look at the perceptions and motivations of distance learners related to
support services and the importance of community or social integration for distance learners.
This study aims to provide additional research to the small yet growing literature on effective
strategies to supporting distance students in blended and online learning programs.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 108
Completion and response to the interview questions will constitute consent to
participate in this research project.

PROCEDURES
You will be asked to participate in a one-on-one, individual interview at a date and time
of your choice. Subjects will be interviewed in person, by telephone, or by technology assisted
interviews such as video conferencing. The initial interview should take approximately one hour
of your time.
Following the initial interview, and if you agree to it, the researcher may contact you by
email, phone, or technology assisted video conferencing in case follow up information is needed.
The amount of time spent on follow up questions should not exceed more than one hour of your
time.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks to your participation; you may experience some discomfort
in answering the interview questions or you may be inconvenienced from taking time out of your
day to complete the interview. Questions asked that make you feel uncomfortable may be
skipped or not answered.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SUBJECTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
You may not directly benefit from your participation in this research study. However,
there is a possibility that you may learn about institutional global efforts during the interview
process. Your responses will also be shared with the institution to better inform efforts related to
student services.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will receive a $50 Amazon gift card for your time. You do not have to answer all the
questions in order to receive the card. The card will be emailed to you after the interview.

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 109
POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The investigators of this research do not have any financial interest in the sponsor or in
the product being studied.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified
with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as required
by law. The information which has your identifiable information will be kept separately from
the rest of the data.
Only members of the research team will have access to the data associated with this
study. The data will be stored in the investigator’s office in a locked file cabinet/password
protected computer. The institutions name, [information withheld], institutional partnerships and
programs may be identified for the purposes of the study. Personal information collected, such as
your name, will not be disclosed during the study.
The data will be stored for three years after the study has been completed and then
destroyed. Before the interview begins, you will be asked by the researcher if the interview can
be audio taped and notes taken. The researcher will be the only person with access to audio tape
recording and notes gathered. Information recorded during this time will be used for educational
purposes only. If you decline the option for audio recording or note taking, you may continue to
participate in the study.
When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no
information will be included that would reveal your identity. If audio-tape recordings of you will
be used for educational purposes, your identity, such as your name, will be protected or
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 110
disguised. Only your title/role associated with the institution will be disclosed. As the subject of
the study, you have the right to review/edit the tapes up until the completion of the study.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this study,
you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may also refuse to
answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the study. The investigator
may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise which warrant doing so.
ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your participation
in this research study. If you have any questions about your rights as a study subject or you
would like to speak with someone independent of the research team to obtain answers to
questions about the research, or in the event the research staff can not be reached, please contact
the [information withheld]
IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact:
[information withheld]

Binh Tran, Study Researcher
[information withheld]
SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 111
I have read (or someone has read to me) the information provided above. I have been
given a chance to ask questions. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction, and I
agree to participate in this study. I have been given a copy of this form.
□ I agree to be audio-taped
□ I do not want to be audio-taped but will allow the interviewer to keep written
notes during the interview

Name of Subject

Signature of Subject Date

SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR
I have explained the research to the subject and answered all of his/her questions. I
believe that he/she understands the information described in this document and freely consents to
participate.

Name of Investigator

Signature of Investigator Date

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 112
Appendix D
Interview Protocol
RESEARCH QUESTIONS/INTERVIEW PROTOCOL CORRELATION GRID

Background Questions for students
1. Why did you choose to attend Big West University?
a) Was Big West University your first college choice?
2. Describe your personal and family background.
a) Describe any effects your personal or family background had on your academic
experience.
3. Describe your academic background prior to attending Big West University.
4. What were your goals for attending Big West University?
5. Please describe your employment status while attending Big West University (Full time,
part time, did not work).
6. Did you receive any type of financial support?

Research Question #1
What are the factors that contribute to distance student attrition in blended
learning programs?

1. Describe your academic experience and goals at Big West University.
2. What affects, if any, did your employment have on your academic experience.
STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 113
3. What affects, if any, did your personal life have on your academic experiences?
4. Describe your interactions with faculty.
5. How often did you communicate with members of the University (faculty, staff,
other students)?
6. Describe your social interactions at the University.
7. Did you come to campus; if so, why?
8. Why did you stop taking courses at Big West University?

Research Question #2
Research Question #3 (For Student Affairs Staff)
What type of support services address retention for online students in blended
learning programs?

1. Did you utilize any student services at the University while taking courses online?
2. How important was faculty access and interaction while taking courses?
3. Describe your interactions with faculty and frequency of interactions.
4. Did you form any personal or group relationships at the University?
5. Are your academic and professional values supported at the University?
a. Did you feel like you were part of the University or isolated?
6. How important are professional development resources and did you utilize any
related services at the University?

STUDENT ATTRITION IN BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAMS 114
How do student affairs support online students in a blended learning program?

1. What services do you directly provide to online students?
2. Are there specific skills that online students need to acquire to be academically
successful?
3. What other University services are available all students, on campus only, or to
online students only?
4. How do you interact with online students?
5. How often do you communicate with online students and what type of
communication does this include?
6. Did you provide any services to online students to connect them to social aspects
of the University?
7. Are there services that support professional development for all students, on
campus only, or to online only students?
8. Do you work with faculty in supporting online students? How?
9. What opportunities are there for online students to interact with other students at
the University?
10. Are there resources to support the well-being of online students?
11. Are there retention services or plans in place for all students, on campus only, or
online students only?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This study focused on online student attrition in a blended learning program and factors that contributed to them leaving the institution as well as the role of student affairs in supporting the online and on campus students. This study applied Tinto’s (1987) model of institutional departure and evaluated how the social and academic systems affected students’ decision to leave the institution and identified conflicts in this system related to students’ external commitments and academic requirements. Findings from this study indicated that online students who were working full time left the program due to their external commitments from their jobs and personal lives. Student affairs advisors and faculty can improve coordination to better support online students and provide reasonable flexibilities with respect to students’ external commitments. The role of student affairs should be redefined to provide clearer services and support to students in blended programs, especially in the areas of faculty coordination and course planning.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Tran, Binh (author)

Core Title Online student attrition in blended learning programs

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education

Publication Date 10/08/2015

Defense Date 08/31/2015

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag blended learning program,OAI-PMH Harvest,online student attrition,student affairs

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tambascia, Tracy (committee chair), Ershaghi, Iraj (committee member), Hong, Rebecca (committee member)

Creator Email binhtran@usc.edu,dragoncandy@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-191170

Unique identifier UC11277325

Identifier etd-TranBinh-3973.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-191170 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-TranBinh-3973-1.pdf

Dmrecord 191170

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Tran, Binh

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA