On the Quality of Higher Education in Jordan: Empirical Evidence from Princess Sumaya University for Technology

Abstract

This paper investigates the main indicators of scores of K-12 leavers who were admitted at Princess Sumaya University for Technology, PSUT, in Jordan and their graduation scores. It uses time series data covering the period 1993-2012, including all 3,229 Bachelor graduates in all specialisations. The paper applies several statistical techniques to describe and test the relationships among educational variables. After that, the paper specifies an Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model that determines the relationship between K-12 leavers' grade-point average (GPA) and Bachelor graduates' GPA. It uses Granger causality to test the existence of causality. We also test score differences for gender, specialisation and time variations. Empirical results of these tests provide strong evidence that secondary GPA has no significant effect on graduation GPA. Moreover, the two GPAs had very small correlations and secondary GPA does not cause university GPA. The implication being that variations in university GPA are not caused by variations in secondary GPA. Therefore, admission policy, which is based on secondary GPA, should include other factors of admission criteria. For many years, job growth in Jordan is not consistent with the increase in the number of university graduates, and the chronic unemployment problem is a major obstacle to economic growth. Employers insist that their demand for graduates is not being met by educational output. Moreover, many policy makers, in education field, are increasingly calling for improvements in pre-university education system while others are blaming the higher education system for failing to provide K-12 leavers with the right specialisations that can match higher education sector outputs to labour market demand. Indeed, current rates of unemployment among Bachelor graduates in Jordan, shown in Table 1, are self-explanatory. It is unfortunate that policy makers in higher education do not fully recognize the importance of human capital in economic development. Current debates in higher education hinge on analysis of students' academic achievements in terms of scores. Therefore, the relationship between secondary GPA and graduation GPA has significant policy implications for designing and implementing education policies at both secondary and university levels. This situation calls for a critical analysis for the quality of education including analyzing scores of students. In developed countries, agendas are driven by sophisticated analyses of data in the areas that affect student performance. It is true that for some jobs, GPAs and test scores are worthless criteria for hiring. While specialized skill sets are required for many jobs, there are some hiring attributes, such as high GPAs, which make prospective employees more desirable to employers all over the world. The first step is to utilize qualitative techniques to create measures that may be useful for both educators and researchers wishing to improve education and increase degree attainment. Although many quantitative assessments remain fragmented, education systems increasingly rely on data to determine next steps in terms of policy. This paper follows the developments of the main indicators of students' achievements, expressed in terms of their GPAs, to contribute in the evaluation of education quality. It considers PSUT as an example of other universities in Jordan. PSUT is a Jordanian private non-for-profit university, founded in 1991, in accordance with the Ministry of Higher Education laws. The university is a private university owned by a non-for-profit organisation, the Royal Scientific Society, and together they are part of El Hassan Science City located in Amman. PSUT aims to be the hub of technology and innovation in the region, a research platform for Jordanian