Dropping out in distance education courses has caused losses ranging from idle personal and material resources of the institutions until the closure of these courses with many students. In addition, the problem is aggravated due to the work of combating the dropping out of students in this mode of teaching. There is an effective policy to combat dropout in distance education courses which has been increasing significantly in recent years. This study was to investigate the factors that influenced the dropout of students of the UFAL/UAB's pilot Administration Distance Education Course. The data collection method used was quantitative and qualitative research; also, documentary and bibliographic researches were made, web graphics research and field research. Results show that the main cause why students drop out is endogenous, or it is related to Higher Education institution. Problems such as behavior linked directly to dissatisfaction with the tutor and teachers; institutional and pedagogical educational reasons requirements related to problems with the platform, and face-to-face meetings.
Dropout; Distance Education; Open University of Brazil
