Which University Students are Falling Behind? Evidence from Bangladesh

Retention, or readmission as it is commonly known in the case of the University of Dhaka—the largest public university in Bangladesh—has gradually been becoming more of an important educational issue as Bangladesh moves toward her development goals and the education system struggles to keep up. This study is an institutional departmental case study that focuses on the readmission of students at the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka. The article asks, what are the determinants of readmission? We use a probit model analysis to explore the factors that may be associated with students’ probability of attaining or seeking readmission. We find that students who are active members in Department clubs are less likely while students who opt for job/tuition/internship while studying and those who are involved in student politics are more likely to pursue readmission.