Freshman Engineering Student Success Indicators Ii

Every year, up to 1300 freshman engineering students from around the world arrive at Virginia Tech's College of Engineering with varying backgrounds, experiences, and degrees of academic expertise. Many fail to meet first year engineering expectations even though college entrance requirements have increased. The question is why and how can the college improve retention? This paper provides results of a study of first year engineering students at Virginia Tech. The purpose of the study is to attempt to discern student success predictors so that appropriate interventions / corrective actions can be taken to increase retention in the program. The study includes the analysis of student Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and performance on a baseline math test. This data is then compared with student first semester engineering course grades. Last year, the correlation between final course grades and student SAT scores were presented. This year, the correlation between final course grades and student performance on the baseline math test are addressed. Overall student performance in the initial freshman-engineering course is analyzed in addition to female, Afro-American, and Hispanic subgroups. The goal of the study is to better accommodate student needs by identifying how to allocate existing resources more effectively.