Resumen

Higher education has become one of the most important development strategies to guarantee the competitiveness and the growth in Colombia. Challenges that this higher education is facing are closely linked to the Sustainable Development Objectives defined in the Agenda 2030, regarding to the increase of the coverages, the improvement of the quality and the permanence of the students. The number of institutions that currently offer virtual education programs is raising significantly and this fact must be understood as an opportunity to improve the access, equity and quality of tertiary education. However, the figures indicate that the drop-out rate in virtual higher education is very high. This research seeks to determine the socio-educational factors affecting the drop-out of students of virtual undergraduate programs, especially focusing in those who belong to vulnerable populations, starting from diverse theoretical approaches that have been used in research on desertion during the last 30 years. This will be conducted interviews with a sample of students enrolled in one of the 431 university careers of Colombia through a questionnaire design and validated.

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