The relationship between prior military education and academic performance in an online technology management undergraduate program

This study examined the relationship between academic performance and prior military service through the use of two models: A logit model to determine the effect of prior military education on the probability that a student will graduate from a Technology Management program within three years of enrollment, and a fixed-effects regression model to determine the effect that prior military education has on academic performance (measured by grade point average). In both cases, the study controlled for variables such as age, gender, and the total number of credit hours the student transferred in to the program. The results of the logit model suggest that there is no statistically significant relationship between the probability that a student will graduate within three years and the student´s age, gender, number of transfer credits, or prior military experience. However, the outcomes also indicate that while the independent variables have little stand-alone value, when taken in totality the model´s predictive power is significant. The results of the regression model provide no evidence of statistical significance between academic performance and prior military experience. This model did, however, uncovered significant results beyond the scope of this study, indicating a future line of inquiry focusing on gender, military experience, and student success.