Freshman Withdrawal from College: An Empirical Examination of the Usefulness of “Autopsy Studies”

Abstract

“Autopsy studies” are investigations in which students are asked at their time of withdrawal from college why they are leaving. Some authors (2, 4) have questioned the usefulness of these studies, noting that withdrawing students may tend to downplay their true problems and overemphasize more socially desirable reasons for leaving. Moreover, previous “autopsy studies” have not used any comparison groups to check to see whether continuing students had the same difficulties as withdrawers but chose to remain in college. The present study rectifies these two major problems of “autopsy studies” by interviewing withdrawers at least several months after withdrawal and by comparing their responses on a follow-up questionnaire with the responses of a random sample of continuers. The results do, indeed, indicate that continuers have significantly more problems in a number of areas than do the withdrawers but choose not to withdraw despite these problems.