Academic performance of mature age students in universities and associated factors

Abstract

The study aimed to establish the academic performance of mature age students in universities and associated factors. Along with increases in nontraditional student enrollment comes an increasing percentage of working nontraditional college students. Mature-entry students (21 years and above) constitute a notable group within higher education sector. The study used a descriptive survey with a purpose to examine the determinants of academic performance of mature age entry students. The study was conducted among mature age entry students at Kenya Methodist University in Kenya. Proportionate stratified sampling was used to select the 87 subjects. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis with the help of SPSS. A total of 73 mature age students participated in the study representing a 84% response rate. Majority 47(64%) of the respondents had a GPA between 2.1 and 3.0. Gender (p=0.006), age (p=0.0390 and economic status (p=0.000) were significant. in addition, family commitments (p=0.000), family support (p=0.000), institutional support (p=0.003) and work life balance (p=0.000) were significant. The study concluded that performance is influenced by demographic and social factors. Social factors appeared to have a greater influence than demographic factors where they emerged as barriers to good academic performance. Universities therefore need to tailor programmes to match needs of mature age students.