Factors affecting the enrolment rate of students in Higher Education Institutions in the Gauteng province, South Africa

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate and analyse higher education institutions' enrolment and drop-out rates within the Gauteng province, South Africa. Large-scale secondary data from the General Household Survey, obtained from Statistics South Africa (2012) were used. This study's findings show that finance, orphan-hood, transport to the higher education institutions and, to a lesser extent, unplanned pregnancies, are some of the main factors that affect the enrolment rate of students. This study hopes to be useful to policy-makers, research managers and other decision-makers within the higher education (HE) landscape.