I'm pretty confident that when I studied for my Applied Physics B.Sc. in the mid '70s that probably a third of all students in all disciplines in that universit

I'm pretty confident that when I studied for my Applied Physics B.Sc. in the mid '70s that probably a third of all students in all disciplines in that university (Exeter, UK) either dropped out, failed to graduate, or barely scraped through with a pass degree. A significant minority dropped out after the first term, unable to cope with the need to push themselves instead of simply doing as they were told as they had done at school.