Scarlet letters: The association of alternative admissions track plan status with key programmatic outcomes in a chiropractic training program

Objective: In 2012, the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) enacted new admission standards with related provisions under a new Policy 7, the Alternative Admissions Track Plan (AATP). The current study examined the relationships between typically admitted students and their AATP counterparts on three student success outcome measures: Graduation at the 150th percentile time frame, National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) Part I pass rates, and completion of all four NBCE examinations within 6-months after graduation. Methods: The authors used three random samples (n = 1050) drawn from a relational database, containing program outcome variables and student characteristics. Assessment of the outcome measures occurred using Pearson χ2 test of independence and the Φ coefficient effect size measure. Results: Significant relationships with small effect sizes and weak associations were found between AATP status and graduation at the 150th percentile (p < .01, Φ = .118) and NBCE Part I pass rates (p < .01, Φ = .114). No significant association between AATP status and NBCE Completion rates 6-months after graduation (p = .144, Φ = .045) was found. Conclusion: The weak associations between variables indicate that AATP status did not meaningfully relate to the outcome variables. There likely are other subtle characteristics and attributes that influence successful completion of key programmatic outcomes. The weak associations found in the current study suggest that when governed under the same academic policies with equal access to support resources, there does not appear to be a meaningful association between the programmatic success of AATP and non-AATP students on key outcomes.