Assessment of the Impact of Students’ Mode of Admission into University and their Academic Achievement in Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this research work was to assess the impact of students’ mode of admission into university and their academic achievement in Nigeria. The design of the study was an ex post facto research design. To carry out the study four research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while four hypotheses were tested using analysis of variance and t-test statistic. The sample for the study consisted of 253 students randomly selected from two universities in Benue State using proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The results indicated that there was no statistical significant difference in the mean academic achievement of students who were admitted into the university through unified tertiary matriculation examination, remedial programme and direct entry admissions. There was statistical significant difference in the mean academic achievement of male and female students and that the academic achievement of male students was higher than their female counterparts based on the three modes of admission. The paper recommends that university authority should continue to admit students into the university through the three modes of admission at reasonable proportion to enhance academic excellence of the citizenry. Efforts should be made by the university authority to ensure that none of the categories of students is discriminated against so as to produce good quality graduates. Above all, attempt should be made to reduce the academic achievement gap between male and female students in the universities as a means of addressing issues of imbalance.