Factors Affecting the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students': The Case of Raya University, Maichew, Ethiopia

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to identify factors affecting the academic performance of undergraduate students of Raya University (RU), Maichew, Ethiopia.  In order to achieve the stated objectives of the research a stratified sampling was used to select 146 students from 17 departments of the university. To analyze the collected data and to investigate factors affecting the academic performance of undergraduate students the ordinary list square (OLS) and Tobit regression methods were used. The findings reviled the existence of significance relationship between the student's university cumulative grade point average (UCGPA) and preparatory CGPA, gender deference, place of origin, college of the student, mismatch between teaching and learning style and student's expectation about their future job opportunity. The above independent variables are statistically significant and they are the major determinants of students' academic performance.  However, variables like, age, study hour, entrance exam result, participation in cooperative learning program, mother's educational level and department choice were insignificant.  Finally, the study recommends that Raya universities, the Ethiopian ministry of education, students and students' families, policy makers and other concerned body should work hard towards improving students' academic performance, by considering aforementioned determinant factors.