Correlates of ‘Cut-off Aggregates’ and Academic Performance of Students in a Public University in Ghana.

Abstract

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on the correlation between entry aggregate (‘cut-off aggregate’) and academic performance among undergraduate students of public universities in Ghana and makes policy recommendation on undergraduate admission policies. Universities all over the world use a set of criteria for the selection of applicants for admission. In Ghana, one criterion commonly used is the entry aggregate (‘cut-off aggregate’) for selecting qualified applicants. The use of such criterion is likely to exclude applicants from less endowed schools whose aggregates may not be competitive enough. This paper adopts a quantitative research design to compare ‘entry aggregates’ and Final Grade Point Averages. A desk analysis of academic records of all the1,064 graduates from 18 bachelor’s degree programmes who were admitted from 2012 to 2014 and graduated from 2016 to 2018 were processed with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26 to establish correlation co-efficient. The study produced mixed findings. On one hand there was moderate relationship between entry aggregates and academic performance in Actuarial Science, Chemistry, Environmental Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering and Renewable Energy Engineering. On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between entry aggregates and academic performance in the other twelve programmes. Findings confirm the general trend in the literature which indicates mixed results between the two variables. The paper recommends that university managers must develop or review their admission policies and factor in more inclusive parameters for admitting those into universities, especially applicants from less endowed schools. The paper further recommends that universities must concentrate more on strategies that improve the learning environment of students rather than place emphasis on entry aggregate (‘cut-off aggregates’).