Stop-out is a temporary interruption in enrollment in which a student leaves an institution for one or more terms and later returns.
How it works
A student completes a term, does not register for the next required term, and has not graduated or officially withdrawn with no intent to return. The absence is recorded. If the student later re-enrolls, the prior credits and cohort membership remain intact. Some institutions require a readmission application after a defined number of missed terms.
Example: a full-time, first-time student enrolls in fall 2024, skips spring 2025 for work reasons, and re-enrolls in fall 2025. For the fall-to-fall retention calculation the student is not counted as retained in fall 2025 if the institution’s census occurs before re-enrollment, but the student remains in the original graduation-rate cohort and can still complete within 150 percent of normal time.
How it differs
Drop-out or permanent withdrawal is a departure with no subsequent return to the institution. Transfer-out is enrollment at a different institution. Leave of absence is a formal, approved interruption that may preserve certain enrollment or aid privileges; a stop-out is often informal.
Common errors
Removing a stop-out student from the graduation-rate cohort. Reclassifying a returning stop-out as first-time. Assuming every student who misses one term has permanently withdrawn.
References
- 1. IPEDS and institutional definitions of stop-outTemporary non-enrollment
- 2. Enrollment management literatureDistinction from drop-out
Stop-out is a temporary interruption in enrollment in which a student leaves an institution for one or more terms and later returns.