Abstract

GARBANZO VARGAS, Guiselle María. Factors associated to academic performance in university students from the socio-economic perspective: A study at the University of Costa Rica. Educare [online]. 2013, vol.17, n.3, pp.57-87. ISSN 1409-4258.

Since  the  academic  performance  of  higher  education  students is one  of  the  most outstanding and  far-reaching  quality indicators  of the  academic  activity, a quantitative research was conducted with a cohort  of students from the University of Costa Rica, who were graduated or in the  last years of their study  program. A questionnaire was applied  to these  students in a personalized  way. The study  refers to the  factors associated  to academic  performance from the socioeconomic  perspective. The general  objective  was to analyze the  factors associated  to the academic  performance of those  students with the  highest  scholarship  category  because  of their socio-economic situation, and students who did not request  a scholarship because  of the high/low demand of study programs  at the University of Costa Rica. In this way, this research examines the problem of academic performance based on the socio-economic situation of students; this variable is very important for having an explanatory framework and providing input related to institutional policies in the  area  of public higher  education. The study  helped  us to confirm that  academic performance is a very complex multi-causal process  that  results from the  interaction  of multiple social, personal, academic-institutional factors, which may va ry from  one  population to  another. It also  confirmed  the  existence  of significant  differences between linear variables: university satisfaction index, study habits index, index of university studies support, satisfaction rate about teachers, and socioeconomic situation; however, the study reported that  there  are no differences in the most important variables, including grade  point average  and admission score.

Keywords : Higher education; academic performance; academic performance of university students; academic performance; socio-economic situation; University of Costa Rica.

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