退学

• Pinyin: tuì xué
• Hanzi breakdown: 退 = 辶 (walk) + 艮 (stop); 学 = 子 (child) + 冖 (cover) + 爻 (teaching symbol)

Meaning

To withdraw from school; to drop out. Formally leaving a school or educational programme before completion.

Covers both voluntary withdrawal and expulsion-adjacent situations. In China, 退学 carries serious social stigma as education is deeply valued. The term appears frequently in discussions of student mental health, financial hardship, and academic pressure. Distinct from 休学 (taking a leave of absence from school).

Examples

1. 由于家庭经济困难，他不得不办理退学手续外出打工。 Due to financial hardship at home, he had no choice but to go through the withdrawal procedures and go out to work.
2. 退学并非失败，关键在于日后如何重新规划自己的人生。 Dropping out is not a failure — what matters is how you re-plan your life afterwards.
3. 学校建议她先休学调整状态，而不是直接退学。 The school suggested she take a leave of absence to readjust rather than drop out entirely.

Usage Guide

Context: education, social

Tone: matter-of-fact

Do Say

• 他因健康原因申请了退学。(He applied to withdraw from school due to health reasons.)
• 退学之后他进入社会，通过自学取得了不少成就。(After dropping out, he entered society and achieved a great deal through self-study.)

Don't Say

• 把退学和休学混淆 (退学 is permanent withdrawal; 休学 is a temporary leave — they have very different implications)

Origin & History

Compound of 退 (withdraw) + 学 (study, school). Literally 'withdraw from studies.'

Cultural Context

Generation: Young adults

Social background: Universal