Factores relacionados con la permanencia estudiantil en programas de pregrado de una universidad pública

According to the Ministry of National Education of Colombia, Programs at the level of university education have a low graduation rate and dropout numbers are alarming. However, results vary in different regions of the country. Objective: To determine the factors related to student retention in face-to-face undergraduate programs offered by the Francisco de Paula Santander University, a public institution located in Cucuta, a town bordering Venezuela. Method: Descriptive cross Quantitative approach with a sample of two hundred and sixteen (216) students from last semester. The instrument is a survey called "factors related to student retention in face-to-face undergraduate programs", designed and validated by the authors. Results: It was found that from the analyzed factors (personal, socio-economic, institutional and academic), the most influential is the one related to the personal. Conclusions: influential aspects are evident in achieving retention, which should be taken into account by the educational institutions in order to promote retention and reduce the backlog and desertion of their students; among them they are: motivation and how passionate the students are about the selected career; the definition of a method of study; the economic contribution of parents, although working while studying when you have a clear purpose is also relevant; the quality of the academic program; teaching methodology; as well as bibliographic and computer resources that are accessed.