Thousands of Canadian university students hit the books for mid-term exams, while schools are looking ahead to keep those who consider dropping out.

Many universities have an arsenal of programs aimed to students who drop off the roster after winter break.

Some reach out to students and their families before the fall semester starts in an effort to ease the transition from high school, while others hold “University 101” courses that show freshmen how to handle stress and manage their time.

Professor Todd Stinebrickner from the University of Western Ontario said, “We need to take steps before kids get to higher education.”

“Trying to have them come in more prepared is important. Things have to be a little different at earlier stages, maybe changes in quality of schools at earlier ages? That is very much an open question.”

Stinebrickner said most students are not prepared for the challenges of post secondary education. His research shows about 40 per cent of students call it quits because they are not performing as well as they expected.

At the University of Ottawa, administrators stage interventions for first-year students whose mid-term marks fall below par in key courses.

Most students manage to get by in their first year of university.

Ontario is the province with the most universities and their retention rates remain between 80 and 90 per cent for the majority of schools.