Undergraduate Students Admission Practices and Its Relationship with Students’ Academic Performances at Madda Walabu University, Ethiopia, East Africa ()
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
University is the center of knowledge creation for development and most part of the public budget is invested to expand this institution. “Universities determine capability within the country’s pool of higher level managerial, scientific and technical expertise, the effectiveness with which, global knowledge is accessed and applied in the solution of local development problems, and the standards of quality within lower levels of education” (Drucker & Goldstein, 2007) . Thus, University Education is one of the main factors that facilitate individuals to achieve success in obtaining a profession to face different life challenges. Therefore, to facilitate students achieve success in their studies universities need to take into consideration the learning needs and interests of their students at a reasonable level. Research has consistently shown a positive correlation between students’ interest in their chosen academic field and their academic performance. Several studies support this relationship. For instance, the study by Ahinful et al. (2019) showed that there is a significant relationship between students’ interest in their academic field and their average academic achievement. “Academic performance is considered an important part of students’ outcomes during their educational process in the university” (Nelson et al., 2009) . “Students’ academic performance during the Education process in university affects the students’ current and future life, as well as portraying students’ inherent productivity and ability” (Mappadang et al., 2022) . Among the several factors that can affect students’ academic performance at universities (Garkaz et al., 2011) identified that the academic interests of students possessed a bigger chance. Therefore, the practices universities employ to select and admit students into their different academic programs have an implication to the development of students’ academic success and the universities’ mission. “Admission practices and criterion are the key indicators of academic success” (Yousafzai & Jamil, 2019) .
Many Investigators are concerned in identifying major factors which can predict students’ academic performance. For instance, the studies by Yusuf et al. (2020) and Rio et al. (2022) indicated that rigorous and validated admission criteria can predict a reduction in the success rate and lead to a successful accomplishment of a program. Thus, thorough admission criteria and practices can predict better academic performance, decrease failure rate of students and successful completion of undergraduate studies degree program. The finding by Burns (2009) , revealed that statistically significant relationships appear to exist between the students’ admission criteria and academic success.
“Student quality in terms of their academic performance, retention and graduation rate could be predicted by examining the criteria by which students were admitted” (Agboola et al., 2014) . Other research findings have discovered that admission criteria are critically related to students’ academic performance and could also influence student quality and their persistence in their studies (Ali, 2008) . Leppel (2005) affirmed that “excellent performance and performance advantage correlate with high persistence and student’s academic performance at the selection and qualifying examination.” This study employed admission and retention interaction model based on Tinto’s (1975) Student Integration Theory and adapted it to the criteria of admission into college by Montegrico & Oducado (2022) . The model points out the interrelatedness that occurs between academic survival, school experience, student attribute and sustainability, which helps to avoid making critical admission error and relating it to system theory of input-process-output. This study is grounded in the idea that students’ Admission criteria and practices in universities during students’ selection into different academic programs are critical and need due consideration. This is because it’s during the admission process that the University can identify students who are fitting and interested in the academic programs. It’s also at this stage that they can identify the students who are at risk of low academic performance. According Agboola et al. (2014) , it is one of the major reflectors of institutional efficiency. “It is through admission process that students who are at risk of failure and those who are most likely to drop-out can be identified early, while the institution provides support services that can foster students’ academic and social commitment and integration” (Tinto, 1975) in Garkaz et al. (2011) . Generally, “Academic Performances at the university significantly expected by academic self-concept (ASC), perceived instructors’ treatment (PTT), entry behavior, and gender” (Admasu et al., 2005) . Thus, thorough admission practices and criteria can enhance academic performance, decrease students’ dropout rate, and increase chances of successful graduation. Therefore, this study aims to look at the relationship between admission and students’ academic performance at one of the Universities in Ethiopia based on the data collected regarding students placed into the academic program by their choices and those who were assigned by selection committees without their choice priority.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
The choice of academic program is the initial and the essential parts of students’ decisions during university studies. Academic Leaders in Universities select their students according to various criteria, including prior academic achievement, aptitudes, personality, and interpersonal skills (James et al., 2009) . “However, it is possible that these criteria are not sufficient to guarantee that selected students will survive their studies and attain professional success” Entry into the public universities in Ethiopia needs accomplishment of two-year preparatory program (grade 11 and 12) with a composite score derived from Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Certificate Examination (NHEEE) and students’ performance in seven subjects at the preparatory schools (Kahsay, 2012) . After students are selected to different universities’ faculty by the Ministry of Education, the universities faculties allocate their students into different academic Programs (ETP, 1994) . Each faculty of the university has a different quota for each academic program. Students can apply to any academic programs under their stream. In this regard, students are supposed to list their preferred academic program in a ranking approach (e.g., first choice, 2nd choice, third choices, 10th choice). If a student is accepted (not qualified) to be admitted into his/her first-ranked academic Program, his or her application will be sent to the second-ranked academic Program. Consequently, depending on the place available, and the number of applicants, some students would be selected into the academic program of their first choice and the rest selected out of their first choices on a competitive basis.
Madda Walabu University is one of the second-generation Universities in Ethiopia and students studying in this University come from all regions of the country. “Admissions and enrolments to all programs are processed by the University Registrar in consultation with the academic units concerned and by the decision of the Senate standing committee called Admission and Enrollment Committee (AEC)” (Madda Walabu University, 2009) . In this University, the places available in some departments and the number of students who want to join them do not correspond. Some academic programs were chosen by more students than the expected quota for each academic program and others academic programs were chosen by fewer students than the expected quota. Consequently, many students were admitted into different academic programs without consideration of their first choices and interests. For example, the researcher has informally noticed a study program which had a vacancy to admit only 50 students, though the students who wanted to join the program were 100. As result of this, the remaining 50 students did not get admitted into the academic programs of their first choice. The researcher remembers students who dropped out during their first-year education and others who repeated the courses among the students who did not get admitted into their first choices study program. Therefore, according to this researcher, this was disadvantage and deprivation to an individual who has the quest and zeal to pursue his/ her educational dreams. On the other hand, the researcher believes that attrition of students from universities during their first-year studies in Ethiopia universities could be the aftermath of such students’ admission and selection practice. “Academic interest is usually characterized by stable individual trends and attitudes towards academic subjects, which may yield deep engagement in learning and thus high academic performance” (Schiefele, 1992) . “If students lack interest in their field of study, it affects the way they react or listen to their instructors” (Nukpe, 2012) . If students are assigned to their academic studies without their interests, aptitudes and choices, unready students are forced to study in a discipline difficult for them while prepared students tend to be admitted to the subject that does not fit their knowledge level. This study argues that academic performance of the undergraduate students is influenced by lack of Interests and students interest influenced by admission practices employed by the Universities. In this study the admission practices by which students selected into different disciplines are independent variable while Academic Performance of the students in their respective discipline is dependent variable. There are several studies that assessed the impact students’ admission practice on students’ academic achievements. However, most of them concentrated on students’ selection and admission at primary and secondary school level. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influences of students’ admission and selection practices on undergraduate students’ academic performances at one of the Universities in Ethiopia Madda Walabu University by answering the following questions:
1) Does the university admit students into their departments according to their first choices?
2) Is there a significant relationship between students’ placement condition and their Academic performances?
3) Is there a significant difference between the CGPA performance of students who are selected into their study program by their first level choices and those students selected into their department out their first level choice?
2. Review Literature
Several studies were carried out to find out the factors affecting students’ performance and came out with findings that Students’ academic performance is impacted by many factors. “Students’ academic performance is determined by the willingness to change, adaptability, complex decision-making, learning from mistakes, the change of controlled belief and choices” (Mappadang et al., 2022) . Other researchers identified locus of control, learning method, learning resources as factors correlated to students’ academic performance (Cassidy & Eachus, 2000) . Furthermore, expectation, volition, academic interest, learning attitude, learning approach (Cassidy & Eachus, 2000) are among factors correlated to students’ academic performance. Additionally, gender, interest, working status (Garkaz et al., 2011) , personality, parents’ style, (Beatson et al., 2019) as well as attendance and teaching quality (Paisey & Paisey, 2005) are among are also considered as factors correlated to students’ academic performance. Some other researchers highlighted individuals’ internal characteristics (e.g. intelligence, self-concept, etc) and some others consider external characteristics (family, social status, educational environment, etc.) as important factors correlated to students’ academic performance. “In educational psychology, students’ academic performance is considered as a product of their learning and for information on individual learning rate, one should refer to his visible behavior or to be more precise see his performance. It is also believed that individual academic performance is highly affected by motivation and emotion, environmental condition, tiredness, and illness” (Mappadang et al., 2022) .
A lot of research has been conducted to look at different factors hindering students’ academic performance. Those studies revealed Variables such as age, gender, talent, scores, high school experience, academic motivation, and students’ expectations as necessary for students success (Ouano et al., 2019) . “University conditions and educational characteristics, i.e. professors’ ability, attempt and motivation has significant relationship with students’ performance and students with previous good experience enjoyed higher level of performance” (da Rocha et al., 2022) . Furthermore, a suggestion has given by other researchers that scholastic aptitude, and previous academic background have a positive significant relationship with students’ performance (Akey, 2006) .
Noxel & Cheek (1988) have emphasized the relationship between interest in the field of study and academic achievement while Fadzillah et al. (2020) emphasized students’ attendance in the classrooms and importance of the subject and interest in this field of study has a positive and significant relationship with academic performance. “It has been verified that student attribute in terms of their academic performance, retention and graduation rate could be predicted by examining the criteria by which students were admitted” (Adeyemi, 2001; Allen & Sherry, 2008 and Agboola, 2011) in Garkaz et al. (2011) . If so inclined and interested in learning a student can handle other factors and employ them for success and learning. Therefore, an interested student is more effective than a student who is not interested in a subject. “Students who possess high academic interests will continually expand their learning skills in their studies” Many studies have largely overlooked factors affecting student academic performance. However, there is contradiction in these findings; therefore, it is needed to carry out analysis of these and some other factors in depth. In addition, admission criteria and its relationship to student academic performances and retention at university level have not been well studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of admission practices on academic interest and academic performance of undergraduate students at one of the universities in Ethiopia.
3. Methods
“Madda Walabu University, one of the public universities in Ethiopia, was established in 2006. The university is in Bale Zone, in the town of Robe, about 430 km from the capital city, Addis Ababa”. This study included two cohorts of undergraduate Students who were in r first and third year studies by means of purposive sampling technique. A total of 113 (29.7%) students in their first-year studies, and 120 (37.8%) students in their third-year studies were included. In addition, 16 university instructors and 10 University leaders (department heads and faculty deans) were included in this study. Generally, 255 respondents were included as a primary source of data for this study. Additionally, policy documents and Guidelines related to students’ selection as well as individual students’ GPA were used as sources of data for this study as indicated in the following Table 1 .
The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS; version 16) computer software. The quantitative data were condensed into descriptive statistics such as percentages, correlation and mean. The qualitative data obtained through documents and interviews were interpreted thematically. The difference in academic performance between students who were admitted into their academic study according to their first preferences and those without their preferences made by dividing sample students into two groups as:
Group A: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective Academic Program by their first rank choices.
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Table 1. Student Population, Sample and Sampling technique used in the study.
Note, SRS = Stratified random sampling, 1st Yr = First Year, 3rd yr Year.
Group B: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective academic program out of their first rank choices. Such a grouping was made to accommodate differences among individuals which could contribute to the difference in academic performance. Accordingly, the t-test was used to compare performance (achievement difference between group A and B). The mean difference in CGPA was obtained by comparing the mean value of CGPA of (Group A) with that of (Group B). Correlation coefficient was used to check the correlation between academic performances of students and students’ selection practices.
4. Results
Admission Criterion and Practices are among the key indicators to predict academic performances. The admission process in university enrollment process needs to identify individuals that most probably can successfully complete their studies since it affect students’ academic performances once they have joined the institution without interest (Yousafzai & Jamil, 2019) . Hence study aims to understand the influence of the admissions process on undergraduate students’ academic performances at one of the Universities in Ethiopia. For this purpose, the study collected necessary data from two groups of students, namely students who were admitted into their academic study based on their first ranked choices and those who were admitted into their study programs out of their first-choice priority. The following Table 2 shows these two groups and their admission conditions.
As indicated in Table 2 below from a total of 233 students fill in the questionnaire in this study, majority 129 (54.4%) of them assigned to study in the academic programs out of their choice priority while only 104 (44.6%) of them joined their academic study according to their first choices. Student responses to the interview question show that they were forced by the selection committee to
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Table 2. The students placed into their departments according to their first choices and those placed pot of their first choices.
study the in academic program without their interest. If students express lack interests in their field of study, they will not be motivated during instruction in the classroom and it can affect students’ teacher relation (Olufemi Adodo, 2012) . A lack of motivation can result in low academic performances and finally lead to academic failure. “Motivated students perform better academically than unmotivated” (Broussard & Garrison, 2004) . Madda Walabu University legislation document has reviewed and article 37 of the document stipulated students’ selection process as follows:
1) Students will be admitted into the program of their choices on a competitive basis using their grade as a measure. However special provisions shall be for female students and other socially disadvantaged group that require affirmative action.
2) Academic units may submit specific entrance requirements such as passed exam in certain subjects or additional test results and my state if, and what kinds of physical disabilities prevent students from pursuing studies in their respective disciplines. These requirements need to be developed by the relevant academic units and approved by the APC the senate.
3) In the cases where there are more applicants than places in a program, the applicants who fail to get their first choice will compete for their second choice and if they fail to their second choice, they compete for their third, fourth choice, etc.
This study found that many undergraduate students studying in different Academic studies at this university were admitted into their study program out of their first rank choices and they were less motivated for better academic performances. This problem was more serious in the academic program like History 26 (84%) of 30 students and Amharic Language where 21 (86%) of the 26 students were selected to their academic program without their first level choices. Here we can raise the question about the appropriateness of the admission practice and consistency of the admission practices for all academic programs of this University. The students were forced by the admission committees of this university to study in those academic programs. A study suggested that academic program leader should facilitate students’ choices for academic fields by acting as gatekeepers, welcoming, and encouraging (Ouano et al., 2019) .
The differences between students’ admission (placement) condition and their Academic performances
This section presents data about the academic performance difference between the students’ group who were selected into their academic program based on their best interests (group A) and those assigned without their interests’ priority respected (group B). The two-student group academic performances records were collected separately from the university registrar and employed for this purpose. T-test has been performed for this purpose. The following Table 3 shows T-test result performed to see the academic performance differences between the two students’ group (Those selected into their academic study according to their first rank choice (A) and those without assigned into their academic study without their first ranked choice priority (B)
Among the 233 students included in this study 129 students selected into their academic program not according their first rank choice (group B) performed lower Cumulative Grage Point Average (CGP = 2.6/4 in their studies than their counterpart (group A achieved CGPA = 3.216/4) who were joined their study program according to their first ranked choice in their respective academic study. The t-test result (t = 1.30, (p < 0.041) indicated that there is statistically significant difference between the academic performances of (CGPA of group A) and (CGPA of Group B) students. The t-test result (t = 1.30, df = 115, p < 0.05) confirmed that there is statistically significant difference between the academic performances (CGPA) of students who were selected into their academic studies according to their first level preferences (group A) and those who were not selected according to their first level choices (group B) in their respective academic studies. Therefore the finding of this study was in line with the study by Yousafzai & Jamil (2019) which found out that an admission practices one of the key determinant of academic success. The finding of this study indicates that many students who were not admitted into their study program according to their first level choices winded up with learning difficulties in their studies. Analysis of the interview data supplements this finding that the practice of admitting many students to their study program without considering students’ preferences priority affect the students’ performances, incurs additional economy on the part of the university and teachers to correct the deficiencies of students through rehabilitation classes. In this regard, one of teachers’ interviewees depicts the challenges facing the students and teachers at his university as follows:
“Many students who assigned to the academic program I am teaching in without their interests, immediately faced learning difficulties because of lack of interests and ability in the courses of the program. For instance, I remember, in the 2012 academic year many students failed disastrously in our faculty. Since then, I remember, about 30% of the students failed and got dismissed in the first semester. We tried to rehabilitate them by arranging tutorial class however, ultimately all of them failed again and were dismissed in the second Semester of 2012.”
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Table 3. Correlation between students Admission condition and their academic performances.
Note: MGPA = Mean Grade Point Average, f = Frequency=, t = Calculated value, d f= degree of freedom.
In addition, students interview results supplement the teacher interview outcome in relation to the negative effect of admitting students out of their interest and choices. In this respect, one of the student interviews who dropped from History department depicts the challenges facing him as follows:
“I was an undergraduate student in the history department. When I chose my major, my first choice was sociology. I didn’t want to study history as my major, but I was forced to study history. Since my plan was not to study History, I left the program and enrolled in a private college to study accounting.”
Student from Amharic Language program complemented the problem of wrong student selection practices as follows:
“I am studying in the Amharic Language department. When I chose my major, my first choice was Oromo Language. I cannot write or speak the Amharic Language properly. I don’t want to work with it in the future. In addition, none of my friends who graduated from Amharic Language Department got jobs. I have seen that many graduates of Amharic are suffering from unemployment. So, I am afraid that my chances will not be different from them because there is no chance of employment for graduates of this department, I am forced to study in the Amharic Language department against my interests. I got low grades in the first semester, and I knew I would be expelled in the second semester.”
This study indicated that there was a significant difference in the performances of students who were admitted into their study program according to their first rank choices (Group A) and those assigned forcibly without consideration of their first-choice priority (group B). This indicated that it is true that low academic interests would result in low academic achievement. The finding of this study complements the previous finding by Garkaz et al. (2011) , Singh, Granville and Dika (2002) and Wijewardena and Rudkin (1999) , which stated that students who are interested in their field of study perform better academically compared to those who lack interested in their field of study. Other studies also confirmed that “students who are intrinsically motivated, and are interested in their studies, seek to achieve personal goals, actively engage in learning with the intention of attaining understanding and intellectual development” (Lepper, 1988; Rio et al., 2022) . In contrast, “students who have extrinsic motives and are only focused on achieving an external goal minimize the time and effort they expend on learning activities” (Lu et al., 2021) . Thus, to achieve the goal of developing higher order learning outcomes, and higher level professional for the economy of the country, intrinsic motivation is required among students at the university under this study.
Academic performance indicates the level of knowledge, skills, and competencies that a student has acquired during their studies, which is often evaluated with the grades obtained in the subjects. As demonstrated in Table 4 below, the Statistical analysis of Pearson correlation of students’ selection condition and student CGPA, there is significant positive relationship between selection and placement condition and CGPA of students at (r = 0.706*, p < 0.05) level of significance. This suggested that students who were selected and admitted to their academic study based on their own their first level preferences were motivated and performed academically better than their counterparts who were enrolled in their academic studies not according to their first level preferences. This implies that one of the factors that was affecting students’ academic performances of the students at the university under this study was the admission practices and procedures employed to allocate students into different academic Program at this University Madda Walabu University. “Students’ expectation of success and their confidence in their abilities is positively associated with their academic performance” (Steinmayr et al., 2019) , “Highly motivated students are more active and experience better academic performances” (Tella, 2007) . Therefore, one of the factors that affect students’ learning and academic performance is the way the university admits and enrolls students into different academic programs. To achieve the aims to educate and successfully graduate their students, the universities need to consider students’ interest and ability at minimal standard during students’ selection and admission process.
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Table 4. The correlation between admission condition and students academic performances across eight academic programs.
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
5. Discussion
The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between students admission practices and the students’ academic Performances at Madda Walabu University, one of the Universities in Ethiopia, East Africa. To achieve this purpose, a total of 233 undergraduate students who were in their first and third year of studies were selected from eight departments of the University. Interview has been conducted with some teachers to complement the data from the students. In addition, students grade report documents and the university legislation has been used. The study employed a mixed research method to address three research questions laid down in this study. Questionnaire, Interview and Documents were employed to collect necessary data. Among the 233 total number of sample students, most (129 (54.4%) of them were selected and admitted into their academic studies without consideration of their first level choices. The students who were admitted into their academic studies not according to their first level choices found academically not successful while about 104 (44.6%) of the students admitted into their academic studies according to their first level choices were found academically successful. The current finding is aligned with the previous findings which indicated that when student lack interests towards their field of studies, it is very likely that it has serious consequences on their academic performances (Lepper, 1988) . Thus, this study suggests achieving their mission for education students and producing manpower for the economy consideration of students’ interests, and ability is desirable during students’ selection and enrollment across different academic studies in the university.
6. Conclusion and Implication
The current research investigated the influence of admission and enrollment practices on interest and academic performance of undergraduate students at one of the Universities in Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, it categorized students into two groups. These are Group A: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective Academic Program according to their first level choices. Group B: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective academic program not according to their first level choices. To examine whether selection and admission practices had an impact on student academic performances, Pearson correlation and T-test was performed. The result of Pearson correlation shows that there is statistically signification positive relation between the selection condition (selection according to students’ first level preferences and without first level preferences) and students’ academic performances in their study programs. Students who were enrolled into their academic programs out of their first level preferences were found academically not successful in their studies. The result of t-test indicated that there is statistically significant difference between the Cumulative Grade point Average (CGPA) of students who were selected and admitted into their academic study programs, according to their first level preferences (group A) and those who were not admitted into their academic programs according to their first level preferences (group B). The findings of this study concluded that one of the main factors hindering academic performance (CGPA) of students at the university under this study was the students’ selection and admission practices which doesn’t give priority for students’ interests and choices.
In summary, this study aimed to determine the relationship between undergraduate students’ admission practices and academic performance. Admitting students into academic programs based on their choice and interests offers several important benefits to both the students and the university. When students are admitted into programs aligned with their interests, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their studies. This engagement can lead to better retention of information and a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Students who are passionate about their chosen field of study tend to perform better academically. This study found that the students’ selection and admission process had a significant impact on the students’ academic performance at the university under this study. Therefore, considering students’ choices and interests during the selection and admission process for different study programs at this university is highly desirable.
Implications
As the theoretical contribution, the findings partially strengthen the previous findings which indicated that academic interests contribute to academic performances. Furthermore, the results of this study also add to the existing literature on measuring student performance from the perspectives of students’ selection and admission process. The finding of the study might further have implications for teachers, researchers, key educational policy makers and other educational experts to explore possibilities of developing more effective ways of placing students into different fields of studies in universities in Ethiopia.
Recommendations
To fill the need of trained manpower in various field of study, the finding of this study recommends admission of students into different academic program shall prioritize students’ choices, interests, and abilities. A clearly defined and visible academic advising system shall also be available for all students before they choices their academic program. The author also recommended that universities need to prepare entrance tests for the purpose of selecting students into different fields of studies. If this is done, the unprepared students could be recognized and given the needed assistance while the prepared students may be selected into the academic programs that matched their interests and knowledge levels.
Further research needs to be done to investigate the effect of interests in the field of study at workplace performances.