First-Time Freshmen at the Uh Four-Year Campuses by Credits Attempted

FIRST-TIME FRESHMEN AT THE UH FOUR-YEAR CAMPUSES BY CREDITS ATTEMPTED

AN EXAMINATION OF PERFORMANCE BY THE 15 CREDITS BREAKPOINT

Research Objective

To examine available data on student performance to determine whether or not students successfully take 15 or more credit hours in a given semester. Data on first-time freshmen for the four-year campuses (UH Mānoa, UH Hilo and UH-West O‘ahu) are examined for the Fall 2010 semester.

Headcount Enrollment by Credits Attempted

The majority of students at each campus took fewer than 15 credits. 66% of students at UH Mānoa and 63% of students at UH Hilo took fewer than 15 credits, while 85% of the students at UH-West O‘ahu took fewer than 15 credits. All credits attempted in the Fall 2010 semester were counted, including those taken at campuses other than the students’ home campuses. The number of credits attempted varied from a low of 1 to a high of 28. Most students took between 12 and 16 credits (Appendix 1).

Selected Characteristics of First-time Freshmen

First-time freshmen at each campus were divided into two populations: those students who took fewer than 15 credits and those who took 15 or more credits in the Fall 2010 semester. Student characteristic measureswere organized into three groups: Academic Preparation, Demographics and Academic Success (Appendix 2). Tests of significance were performed for all characteristic measures. Tests includedthe T-test and Chi Square methods.

Academic Preparation Measures

As might be expected, at UH Mānoa and UH Hilo, students who took 15 or more credit hours had higheraverage SAT Composite scores, High School GPRs and High School Rank Ratios than students who took fewer than 15 credits. The differences between the two populations were significant for all three measures. At UH-West O‘ahu, the differences were significant only for the SAT Composite scores. In addition, at UH Mānoaa greater proportion of the students who took fewer than 15 credits had earned credits in the prior summer session.

Demographics

Percentage enrollment wascalculated for selected demographic characteristics for the two student populations per campus and compared to the calculation for the total headcount per characteristic (Appendix 2). The differences were tested for statistical significance. For UH Mānoa, differences were statistically significant for enrollment byethnic minority status, gender and Pell grant recipient status. For UH-West O‘ahu, differences were significant only for ethnic minority status. None of the demographic characteristics tested significant at UH Hilo.

Academic Success Measures

At both UH Mānoa and UH Hilo, students taking 15 or more credits performed as well or better than students taking fewer than 15 credits. Average GPR, percentage of students with a “B” or higher Grade Averageand Credit Completion Ratios for the population taking 15 or more credits were higherat both campuses, and the differences were statistically significant. For UH-West O‘ahu, the values were higher on the same three success measures for those taking 15 or more credits, though statistically significant only for the Average GPR and Credit Completion Ratio measures. In addition, at UH Mānoa and UH Hilo a higher proportion of the students taking 15 or more credits had course withdrawals, and the differences were statistically significant.

Academic Preparation Score Methodology

Examination of these data points raises the question as to whether only students with better academic preparation do better taking 15 or more credits. The Academic Preparation Score calculation is a way to collapse the academic preparation variables into a single measure that can then be used to create a cross-tabulation by success measure. The resulting data array is shown in Appendix 3. To determine the score, each of the four academic preparation variables was divided into quartiles. Students were given a score for each variable based upon the quartile into which the variable fell. For example, if a given student had an SAT composite score that fell in the 1st quartile (highest), the score for that variable would be 4; if the score fell in the 4th quartile (lowest), the score would be 1. The other variables used were ACT composite score (used only if the SAT Composite score was not available), highschool GPR and High School Rank Ratio. A score was provided only if the variable was present in the student record (blanks were excluded). Finally, the scores for the separate variables were summed and divided by the total number of variables present to yield the Academic Preparation Score per student record. Continuing the example, a student with an SAT quartile score of 4, a High School GPR score of 3 and a High School Rank Ratio of 2 would have an Academic Preparation Score of (4+3+2)/3 = 9/3 = 3.0.

Success Measures by the 15 Credit Hour Breakpoint and Academic Preparation

At all three campuses, students with higher Academic Preparation Scores had higher fall semester Grade Point Averages (Appendix 3). At each of the preparation score breakpoints, students who took 15 or more credits consistently had higher GPRs. For UH Mānoa, the difference in GPR between the two student populations diminishes at the highest and lowest academic preparation score values (shown at right).

Distribution of students with a “B” Grade Average or higher by Academic Preparation Score presents a somewhat different picture. As shown for UH Mānoa, there appears to be a breakpoint at preparation score 2.7, at and below which the performance results are mixed. UH Hilo shows a similar result, though the breakpoint occurs at preparation score 3.3 (Appendix 3). For UH-West O‘ahu, the small size of the population creates gaps in the data that inhibit comparison across the academic preparation scores.

For the Credit Completion Ratio measure, students at UH Mānoa who took 15 or more credits performed better than students who took fewer than 15 credits, regardless of the Academic Preparation Score. Furthermore, the difference in performance was greater for those students with lower Academic Preparation Scores (below 2.5). At UH Hilo, students taking 15 or more credits generally had higher Credit Completion Ratios (shown at right). Only students with very low preparation scores did better taking fewer than 15 credits.

Conclusion

The results of the analysis support the conclusion that first-time freshmen at the UH four-year campuses cansuccessfully carry 15 credit hours. Student success varies by academic preparation, with those students scoring higher on academic preparation performing better, as measured by fall semester GPR, “B” Grade Average or higher and Credit Completion Ratio. At all but the lowest levels of academic preparation, first-time freshmen taking 15 or more credit hours achieve higher levels of academic success than those taking fewer than 15 credits. For those students with lower levels of academic preparation, additional support services may be required before recommending higher credit hour loads. Differences in academic performance by demographic characteristic, such as ethnicity, gender or Pell recipient status, merit further research.