Some students leave their current program to pursue another degree, driven by a stronger affinity for a different field or by personal circumstances that make that transition appealing. This phenomenon is especially noticeable when returning to classrooms after a break, as it often requires extra effort and adaptation. The choice to switch studies can be influenced by several factors, including perceived difficulty and the desire to align studies with long-term goals.
In practice, the most highly valued majors in terms of career prospects are not always those that keep students most satisfied. Data from the Ministry of Universities, published every four years, reveals dropout rates and changes in grades among university students in Spain. The latest report, issued last June, highlights Engineering, Architecture, and related branches as fields with notable student attrition and grade fluctuations.
In Andalusia, the dropout rate stands at 27 percent, a figure that is six points below the national average of 33.2 percent. When comparing regions, the community ranks ninth in terms of overall dropout, with the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands posting higher percentages, not dipping below 39 percent.
Engineering and Architecture, despite showing solid employment outcomes, contribute to higher dropout rates, reaching 42.8 percent in some cohorts. The most recent national data available for this topic, dating to 2018, records an 79.8 percent continuation rate in related programs, just behind Computer Science at 84.8 percent. These figures illustrate that even in high-demand fields, attrition can be a significant issue for students.
Turning to Mathematics, the number of graduates across different engineering modalities in Spain in 2018 stood at 10,988. In contrast, the field of Science, which remains in high demand, added relatively few graduates nationally three years earlier, with an enrollment rate of 76.9 percent. The branch of Sciences generally shows a dropout rate around 34.1 percent, which is 7.7 points higher than Health Sciences, whose dropout rate does not exceed 27 percent.
types of universities
When examining dropout differences by the type of university center selected for study, the gaps are not substantial. However, grade changes in Andalusia tend to be higher in private institutions, where payments centers show about 20.2 percent, compared with 12.5 percent in public ones. The landscape remains shaped by a mix of institutional approaches and student experiences.
Andalusian university students typically leave their chosen department in the first year. This pattern is corroborated by the Ministry of Universities, which reports a figure around 17.8 percent. In the second year, the rate drops to about 6 percent, and by the third year it becomes negligible, approximately 3.2 percent. These trends underscore the challenges students face early in their programs and the importance of supportive measures during the initial college years.