Villar Aguilés, AlíciaVieira, Maria ManuelHernàndez i Dobon, Francesc J.Almeida, Ana Nunes de2012Villar Aguilés , A , Vieira , M M , Hernàndez i Dobon , F J & Almeida , A N D 2012 , ' Más que abandono de estudios, trayectorias de reubicación universitaria : Aproximación comparada al caso español y portugués ' , Default journal .1646-3730Revista Lusófona de EducaçãoThe implementation of the European Higher Education Area is coinciding with the current economic crisis, with important effects for universities. The university drop-out is one of the topics in the current debates about the university system efficiency, the achievement of excellence and the educational policies of accountability. In this paper we present results of research that explore this topic with a case study of the University of Valencia (Spain) and the University of Lisbon (Portugal). Through the results on drop-out reasons answered by the students, there seems to be a split between the university drop-out and the academic difficulty. In the second part of this article, we question the concept of dropout in their application to university and we propose a new conceptualization more in line with the reality studied.application/pdfspaopenAccessEDUCAÇÃOENSINO SUPERIORABANDONO ESCOLARESTUDANTES UNIVERSITÁRIOSCOLLEGE STUDENTSEDUCATIONHIGHER EDUCATIONDROPPING OUTarticle