Factors associated with the academic performance of engineering students of the UCR interuniversity campus from Alajuela

Abstract

The Alajuela Interuniversity campus opened in 2007, with Universidad de Costa Rica as its first academic institution, which has two engineering majors. Since recent studies have shown that students take longer to get to their major’s last year because they fall behind in their curricula, it is decided to determine the factors associated with the academic performance of engineering students through Generalized Linear Models based on the theories from Tinto (1989), Vélez, Schiefelbein and Valenzuela (2001) and Blanco Vega (2011). As a result it is decided that the best model to follow is the Negative Binomial Model with dependent variable; it is taken into account the amount of approved credits and independent variables: if the student has considered to leave the university, the education of the student’s household head, if the student has scholarship, if the student believes that the university is located in a dangerous area, the amount of majors the student has taken and the student's main major.