The objective of the research was to explore how learning and academic self-efficacy mediate the relationships between student–professor interaction and intent to drop out in virtual university teaching. Using a non-experimental, cross-sectional design, a quantitative methodology was employed, with surveys administered to 230 university students from various degree programmes. The results revealed that academic self-efficacy significantly mediates between the virtual teaching process and intent to drop out, suggesting that a well-designed virtual environment can reduce the likelihood of dropout by strengthening academic self-efficacy. However, learning self-efficacy and Student–Professor interaction were not significant mediators in this relationship. The most important conclusion is that strengthening academic self-efficacy in virtual environments is key to improving student retention.