The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify factors related to dropout/retention for distance education students in order to identify variables that might promote participation through completion. The major focus of the study was to document the distance education students' learning progress and to identify variables that relate to their decisions for dropping out or staying in the program. The participants in the study were undergraduate students, who originally enrolled in the distance education undergraduate program at the National Open University of Taiwan. The instrument used in this research was a mailed questionnaire for investigating the factors of dropout or retention for distance education students. The key factors that related to dropout or retention decisions for undergraduate distance education students for this study are: demographic variables, goal commitment, social integration, and academic integration. (Contains 30 references.) (Author)