THE disclosure in the first official university league tables that nearly one in five students drop out is doubly disturbing.
For this is wasting more than £200 million a year of taxpayers' money, but, perhaps worse, it is wrecking the lifetime opportunities of thousands of young people.
Evidence suggests that it is students from poorer homes who are the greatest casualties, but it is not apparent whether this is due to their greater difficulty in supporting themselves are whether they are less able to cope academically.
More research is needed and a cure must be urgently found.
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