Student pathways at the university: Patterns and predictors of completion

Abstract

This article outlines a longitudinal pathway analysis of student performance within educational institutions, so as to identify student profiles which describe those groups of students who are more likely to complete or leave a bachelor degree program, and to identify the predictors for these outcomes. The analyses are based on 7314 undergraduate student enrolment and completion data, covering the period from 2001 to 2005, from a large metropolitan New Zealand university. A prospective approach was used to describe the pathway outcomes of students after every academic year in the program; thus, student pathway outcomes for any particular year were developed based on the student's status in t..