Identifying Factors Influencing Engineering Student Graduation: A Longitudinal and Cross‐Institutional Study

TLDR

The study quantitatively evaluates pre‑existing factors affecting engineering student success. Using a database of 87,167 engineering students from nine institutions (1987‑2002), the authors modeled graduation rates over time with institution‑specific and pooled multiple‑logistic regression analyses. High school GPA, gender, ethnicity, quantitative and verbal SAT scores, and citizenship significantly influenced graduation, with HSGPA and quantitative SAT consistently predictive across all models while other factors varied by institution.

Abstract

Abstract Pre‐existing factors are quantitatively evaluated as to their impact on engineering student success. This study uses a database of all engineering students at nine institutions from 1987 through 2002 (a total of 87,167 engineering students) and focuses on graduation in any of the engineering disciplines. We report graduation rate as a function of years since matriculation, and determine the typical time‐to‐graduation. A multiple logistic regression model is fitted to each institution's data to explore the relationship between graduation and demographic and academic characteristics. A pooled model is fitted to six institutions where a complete data set was available. High school GPA, gender, ethnicity, quantitative SAT scores, verbal SAT scores, and citizenship had significant impact on graduation. While HSGPA, SATQ were significant for all models tested, the significance of other predictors varied among institutions. These studies add to the existing body of research about factors affecting the success of engineering students.