Predicting Academic Performance

The importance placed on matriculation increases at each level of academia, with the greatest significance placed at the tertiary level. The task of standardizing entry-level requirements at the tertiary level has lead to the implementation of assessments such as SAT GMAT and GRE. Prior research conducted at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTECH) indicated that the task of finding effective predictors of academic performance remains incomplete. This study examines the relationship between students´ overall academic performance (GPA) and matriculation requirements performance in first year courses in the Bachelor of Science and Information Technology (BSCIT) program at UTECH. The study evaluates undergraduate students that completed the BSCIT program in 2005. The files for all BSCIT undergraduate students of 2005 were surveyed and specific data was collected. The findings pointed out that performance in first year gateway courses had some level of significance in predicting performance. The findings from this study will be instrumental in restructuring the admissions policy for the program