PhD conferral Ms Eline Sneyers, MSc.

“What works to improve student succes: the effects of academic dismissal policies, student grants and institutional mergers on student outcomes”

Keywords: student success, dismissal policy, need-based grant, student retention

Student success is a complex concept which is related to both the academic achievement and psychological experience of students. This dissertation contributes to the current knowledge on student success. It is concluded that an academic dismissal policy leads more first year students to dropout. Such policy increases graduation one year after the nominal study time, while student satisfaction decreases. This dissertation furthermore shows that need-based grants lead to more student enrolment, retention and graduation. Grants also have a heterogeneous impact on student populations. Finally, the results indicate that a merger between higher vocational campuses increases first-year student retention.