Comparing GPAs of First-Time Students Based on Admissions Decision Datelate-admissions, decision dates, GPA, first-time students

With the upcoming demographic shift, higher education administrators are aiming to enroll and retain as many students as possible. With this increased focus on enrollment and retention, a question that can be asked is whether students admitted late (two weeks prior to the start of the full term) will be less academically successful after their first full academic year? To study this question, the first-time, full-term cohorts for the fall 2020, 2021, and 2022 were obtained from Georgia Southern University. The data collected were the admissions decisions and registration dates, fall term GPA, spring term GPA, and cumulative GPA. The cohorts were separated into two groups, Early vs Late, based on the admissions decision date, with the two weeks prior to the start of term as the splitting point. A random sample equal to the late admit was pulled for the regular admit students to ensure an even comparison. Using an independent sample t test to analyze the GPAs of the two groups, it was found that there was a significant at the specified p < .05 level, t(166) = 4.53, p < .01t. The M GPA for the Early students was 2.93 while the Late students was 2.24. This supports the proposed idea that students who are admitted late are more likely to be less academically successful compared to those who are admitted on time.