Which College Major Has the Highest Dropout Rate?

Quick Takeaways

• Engineering and computer‑science programs top the list with dropout rates above 30%.
• Medicine and health‑related majors also see high attrition, often due to intense competitive exams.
• Arts & humanities have the lowest dropout rates, usually under 15%.
• Key reasons: rigorous curricula, costly tuition, poor advising, and mental‑health strain.
• Practical steps-early warning systems, mentorship, and realistic career mapping-can cut attrition dramatically.

What Does “Dropout Rate” Really Mean?

When we talk about College major a field of study that a student picks in higher‑education institutions, the dropout rate measures the share of students who leave before earning a degree in that discipline.

National data usually count a student as a dropout if they stop enrolling for two consecutive semesters without transferring. This definition matters because it excludes students who switch majors-something that happens a lot in demanding programs.

Where Do We Get Reliable Numbers?

The most trusted source in the United States is the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Their Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) tracks enrollment, graduation, and attrition for every degree‑granting institution.

Internationally, the OECD’s Education at a Glance reports give comparable figures for Canada, the UK, and Australia. For India, the Ministry of Education publishes dropout data for engineering (IIT JEE) and medical (NEET) streams, which aligns with the competitive‑exam angle of the original question.

Top Majors With the Highest Dropout Rates (2023‑2024)

These numbers come from the NCES 2024 cohort study, which followed 1.2million undergraduates for four years. The data show a clear pattern: majors that demand strong quantitative skills and long professional licensing pipelines tend to lose more students.

Why Do Engineering and Computer Science See the Most Attrition?

1. **Curriculum intensity** - First‑year math and physics courses filter out anyone without a solid foundation.

2. **Expectation gap** - Many high‑school graduates imagine tech jobs as “easy coding” but meet complex systems design quickly.

3. **Financial pressure** - Engineering programs often cost more, and students may drop out to work full‑time.

4. **Limited early support** - Large lecture halls mean students rarely get one‑on‑one help before they’re overwhelmed.

How Competitive Exams Influence Dropout Patterns

In India, the IIT JEE and NEET act as gatekeepers for engineering and medical streams. The high‑stakes nature of these exams creates two attrition spikes:

1. **Pre‑admission drop** - Students who clear JEE or NEET but later realize the college’s academic rigor is far beyond high‑school prep.
2. **Mid‑program drop** - In medical schools, repeated failures in pre‑clinical exams trigger demotivation, leading many to quit before the clinical years.

Research from the Ministry of Education (2022) shows that about 12% of students who clear NEET abandon the MBBS program within the first two years.

What Can Institutions Do To Reduce Attrition?

• Early warning analytics: Use enrollment and grade data to flag students whose GPA drops below 2.5 in the first semester.
• Peer tutoring programs that match struggling freshmen with senior mentors in the same major.
• Flexible curriculum tracks - Offer “applied” pathways that replace some theory with project‑based learning.
• Financial counseling and scholarship alerts for students facing tuition gaps.
• Dedicated mental‑health services; studies link counseling access to a 7% reduction in dropout rates.

Checklist for Students Considering a High‑Risk Major

1. Assess your math and science foundation with a placement test.
2. Talk to current seniors about workload and support services.
3. Calculate total cost (tuition + living) and explore backup scholarships.
4. Plan a fallback major or minor that shares some core courses.
5. Set short‑term academic goals (e.g., maintain a 3.0 GPA in the first year).

If you tick these boxes, you’ll be far less likely to become a statistic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bottom Line

If you’re eyeing a major with a reputation for high attrition-engineering, computer science, or medicine-don’t ignore the stats. Use the data, lean on campus resources, and have a solid backup plan. By doing that, you’ll turn a risky choice into a manageable challenge, not a dropout statistic.