First, I'd like to say that I'm not an expert in student retention.
That being said, I did want to relate an interesting conversation I had with someone that is deeply involved with student success/retention work.
She mentioned that the most recent research into attrition rates seems to indicate that "life getting in the way" is really just acceptable code words for "I don't feel comfortable telling you why I've dropped."
Since this was general conversation, I didn't ask for references. :) I also have no idea how accurate the info is because I don't know said person that well. I do know that socially acceptable reasons for ditching a course seems a bit analogous to the socially acceptable taking of sick days... after all, how many adults in the US take sick days when they're really not sick (just sick of work or sick of the routine...) LOL.
However, the info does seem to be full of many possibilities for different avenues of discussion (validity of survey instruments, life/work/school balance and when we're more likely to accept a little imbalance for the sake of education, attrition rates in compulsory versus volunteer courses, etc.).
