FINAL GRADE POINT AVERAGE FOR ALL STUDENTS AND BY ETHNICITY ASA FUNCTION OF CREDIT-BASED TRANSITION PROGRAMMING

Analyzed in this study was the extent to which differences were present in final GPA between students who participated in a credit-based transition program, namely dual credit enrollment and Advanced Placement and students who did not participate in a credit-based transition program. Participants (n = 3,954) were students at one Texas public 4-year university who had enrolled in the fall of 2007 and who were tracked for 6 years. Although students who had taken dual credit courses (n = 307) graduated college with higher GPAs than their non-dual credit peers, the difference was not statistically significant. For Advanced Placement students (n= 177), however, the results were statistically significant, with Advanced Placement students earning higher GPAs than non-Advanced Placement students (i.e. 3.46 and 3.14, respectively). The largest statistically significant difference was between Black students who had taken an exam (i.e. GPA of 3.36) and Black students who had not taken an exam (i.e. GPA of 3.16). Implications of these results and suggestions for future research are provided.