Just two out of every 10 university students who take a gap year return to complete their degree.
New statistics reveal that hundreds of undergraduates at the north's institutions who take a break after their first year do not come back for their second.
The issue is equally common among mature and young students.
The Executive describes a gap year as an opportunity to "volunteer abroad, do some work experience in Northern Ireland to build up your skills, see a bit of the world".
Taking a gap year, it says, "is a good way of gaining more experiences before going on to further study at university".
It is more common for young people to take this break immediately after leaving school, but hundreds instead wait until the end of their first year of university.
Most fail to return, however, according to a statistical bulletin published by the Department for Employment and Learning.
There were 9,035 full-time first degree entrants to the north's higher education institutions in 2011/12. Of these 565 took a year out in 2012/13.
Of all young degree entrants, 78.5 per cent did not return in 2013/14. This figure was slightly higher than the UK average of 78.2 per cent.
More than eight in 10 - 80.8 per cent - of mature students did not return after a year out over the same period.
Overall, 79 per cent of all students - mature and young - did not complete their degrees.
The proportion who stayed away was higher at Ulster University than Queen's - 81.8 per cent compared to 71 per cent.
