I wonder if this is a bigger problem now than it was when I as a student forty five years ago. In those days a degree was not such a necessity as it is now but was even more worth having. Where and when (Exeter Uni. '74-'77) I studied the drop out rate in the first year was fairly high as people discovered that they were not suited to academic study, felt they had chosen the wrong subject, or were simply not capable. A noticeable minority didn't return after the Christmas holiday having done just one term.

The result was that the student body was composed to a greater degree of people who really wanted to be there doing what they were doing and to a slightly greater degree capable of doing it. I suspect that this would mean a slightly lesser incidence of depression.

I can easily imagine that a lot of students now also feel that they are unsuited to study but also feel that they must continue with the degree because the piece of paper they receive at the end is so important now because so many jobs demand it. So instead of dropping out and, perhaps, taking a vocational course instead they continue studying a subject that is beyond them or perhaps merely uninteresting.

Of course this is just speculation that seems plausible to me. Are there any good and approachable statistical analyses on the subject?