EFL Students’ Attrition: A Case of the University of Garmian in the Kurdistan Regional Government

Student attrition is a persistent challenge in higher education, and it can beespecially acute in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program where languagedemands and social integration pressures compound typical academic barriers.Evidence from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq remains limited, leaving localinstitutions without targeted guidance on retention. The research aimed to identifymain academic, personal, and institutional factors that influence students’decisions to withdraw, focusing on both attrited and non-attrited undergraduateEFL students. A mixed-methods approach was employed, which combined thequantitative data from a self-reported questionnaire that was administered to bothgroups and the qualitative information from semi-structured interviews withattrited students. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 27) for descriptive andinferential statistics, while thematic content analysis was applied to interviewresponses. The results revealed that academic challenges, such as outdatedteaching methods and limited faculty support, were important contributors toattrition. Personal factors, including financial difficulties and familyresponsibilities, also had an important role, alongside institutional shortcomingssuch as inefficient administrative processes and a lack of campus community.These findings emphasize the multifaceted nature of student attrition and providepractical information for institutions who want to improve student retention rates.Universities can create supportive environment that fosters student success andpersistence by addressing both academic and non-academic challenges.