The Role of Student Cooperation in Intentions to Quit Higher Education

High university dropout rates have negative outcomes for both students and society. Supportive student cooperation may play an important role in preventing intentions to quit by promoting engagement and reducing loneliness among students. There is a need for more knowledge about the association of student cooperation, academic engagement, loneliness, and intentions to quit. This study, therefore, examined the association between student cooperation and intentions to quit via emotional and behavioral engagement and loneliness. These associations were tested by using latent structural equation modelling with data from a survey conducted among 356 first-year students. The results indicated two separate paths from student cooperation to intentions to quit, one via emotional engagement and the other via loneliness. The findings thus suggest that facilitating cooperation may prevent students’ intentions to quit by enhancing emotional engagement and reducing feelings of loneliness.