Trained for the high jump; asked to do the long jump

To benefit from any experience, an individual must be involved in it. In the context of higher education, this manifests itself as students attending academic and social activities associated with the course, actively engaging with the other participants and, of course, completing and submitting tasks designed to demonstrate the extent to which they have benefitted. A proportion of students, for a variety of reasons, do not engage with these educational processes and either underperform or, in extreme cases, drop out entirely. Those who leave do so because they believe it is the right thing for them to do at that time.