How Residency Affects The Grades of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Using data collected from SUNY Brockport National Survey of Student Engagement 2011 (NSSE) results, 946 first year and senior year student’s grades were compared to three variables: ages, transfer status, and residence. SPSS was used to run univariate and bivariate analyses to determine the relationship between grades and the three independent variables. The results showed that older students earned higher grades although the progression from lowest to highest grade earners did not follow the progression of ages. Our analysis of grades in relation to transfer status showed that transfer students scored lower than native students, which is likely due to transfer shock. The results of our analysis of grades in relation to residency showed that on-campus students were the highest grade earners with commuters coming in second.