IT'S official...tomorrow is university drop-out day.

Although the cynics may claim it's hard to tell if students have quit or just not got out of bed yet, research by the London-based New College of the Humanities has revealed that this Monday is the day first year university students are most likely to decide defect to another university or leave higher education altogether.

The date comes just eight weeks after their course starts. With the excitment of Fresher's week and the novelty of leaving home far behind them, the survey of more than 500 first year students found that more than half said they considered their degree course poor value for money and 48 per cent said they were disappointed by the lack of face-to-face contact time with academics.

The survey also found that 40 per cent regretted their choice of university.