Selected academic variables as predictors of first semester academic success of at-risk football student-athletes at the University of Missouri

This study investigated the effects of selected academic variables on the academic performance of at-risk football student-athletes who matriculated at the University of Missouri (MU) during the academic years of 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2004-05. This study attempted to identify traditional academic variables that might explain the variance in the cumulative grade point average (GPA) at the end of the first semester among the aforementioned student-athlete population. Academic variables included high school GPA, high school rank, and ACT composite score. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to analyze each of the predictor variables as they related to first semester college GPA and each other. The results of this study indicated that high school GPA accounted for 21 percent of the variance in student-athletes’ first semester college GPA and was the only significant predictor of student-athletes’ first semester college GPA. When added to the regression model, high school rank and ACT composite increased the explained variance in first semester college GPA by 1 percent. The results of this study suggest that high school GPA is the best predictor of first semester college GPA among the traditional academic variables analyzed for the population studied. Further research is needed to explore the relationship between noncognitive variables and college academic success for at-risk student-athletes in predicting college grade point average.