Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between undergraduate students' admission practices and their academic performance. The participants of this study were 233 undergraduate students who were in their first and third-year studies as well as two Madda Walabu University Professors. A mixed Research method was employed to analyze the data collected through Questionnaires, Interviews, and Documents. T-tests and correlation coefficients were performed to see the differences between students' academic performance and their admission practices. The result of this study revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between the students' admission practice and their academic performances at this University. This study determined that one of the factors impeding students' learning and academic performance at Madda Walabu University was the admission practice employed at this University to enroll students into different academic Programs. Therefore, this study expands the understanding that admission practices are among the factors influencing students' academic performances.
Introduction
University entrance time is important, as it is the time when a young person faces the challenge of exploring more career opportunities, evaluating different alternatives, and ultimately deciding. Entry into university is one of the most important periods when students decide on their future careers and it's a period of transition from a lower level to a higher level of education. The choice of academic study program is one of the most important decisions students make in this period. They make this decision so that they can complete their study successfully (with better performance) and secure good jobs after graduation “Academic performance is considered an important part of students' outcomes during their educational process in university” (Nelson, Duncan, & Clarke, 2009). Students' academic performances at university determine students current and future life (Mappadang, Khusaini, Sinaga, & Elizabeth, 2022). Thus, University Education is one of the main factors that facilitate individuals to achieve success in obtaining a profession to face different life challenges. Therefore, to facilitate students to achieve success in their studies, universities need to take into consideration the learning needs and interests of their students at a reasonable level. Numerous studies indicate that a significant relationship exists among university students career Presupposition, decidedness, motivation, and performances. Koyuncuoglu (2020) found significant relationships between academic achievement, motivation, and career expectations. Ahinful, Tauringana, Bansah, and Essuman (2019), showed a positive correlation between students' interest in their chosen academic field and their academic performance. Among the several factors that can affect students' academic performance at universities (Garkaz, Banimahd, & Esmaeili, 2011) identified that the academic interests of students possessed a bigger chance. Therefore, the practices universities employ to select and admit students into their academic programs of study has an implication to the development of students' academic success and the universities' mission. “Admission practices and criteria are the key indicators of academic success” (Yousafzai & Jamil, 2019). Many researchers are concerned with identifying major factors which can predict students' academic performance. Those studies indicated that rigorous and validated admission practices and criteria can predict students' success rate and lead to the successful accomplishment of their studies. Thus, thorough admission criteria and practices can predict better academic performance, decrease the failure rate of students, and successful completion of undergraduate studies degree programs. The finding by Burns (2009), revealed that statistically significant relationships appear to exist between the students' admission criteria and academic success.
Range of researches underscore that student quality in terms of their academic performance, retention, and graduation rate could be predicted by examining the criteria by which students were admitted. These researches have discovered that admission criteria are critically related to students' academic performance and could also influence student quality and persistence in their studies. Ali (2008) affirmed that excellent performance and performance advantage correlate with high persistence and student's academic performance at the selection and qualifying examination. This study employed the admission and retention interaction model based on Tinto's (1975) Student Integration Theory and adapted it to the criteria of admission into college (Montegrico & Oducado, 2022). The model points out the interrelatedness that occurs between academic survival, school experience, student attribute and sustainability, which helps to avoid making critical admission errors and relating it to the system theory of input–process–output. This study is grounded in the idea that Admission criteria and practices during universities students' selection into different academic programs are critical and need due consideration because it's during the admission process that the University can identify students who are fitting and interested in academic programs. It's also at this stage that they can identify the students who are at risk of low academic performance. According to Agboola, Jk, and Ogbodo (2014), it is one of the major reflectors of institutional efficiency. “It is through the admission process that students who are at risk of failure and those who are most likely to drop out can be identified early, while the institution provides support services that can foster students' academic and social commitment and integration” (Tinto, 1975) in (Garkaz et al., 2011). Generally, “Academic Performances at the university are significantly expected by academic self-concept (ASC), perceived instructors' treatment (PTT), entry behavior, and gender” (Admasu, Abdo, & Semela, 2005). Thus, thorough admission practices and criteria can enhance academic performance, decrease students' dropout rates, and increase the chances of successful graduation. Therefore, this study aims to look at the relationship between admission and students' academic performance at one of the Universities in Ethiopia based on the data collected regarding students placed into the academic program by their choices and those who were assigned by selection committees without their choice priority.
Statement of the problem
The choices of academic programs are the initial and essential parts of student decisions during university studies. Academic leaders in Universities select their students for different academic Programs according to various criteria, including prior academic achievement, aptitudes, personality, and interpersonal skills (James et al., 2009). “However, it is possible that these criteria are not sufficient to guarantee that selected students will survive their studies and attain professional success” Entry into the public universities in Ethiopia needs an accomplishment of the two-years preparatory program (grades 11and 12) with a composite score derived from Ethiopian Higher Education Entrance Certificate Examination (NHEEE) and students' performance in seven subjects at the preparatory schools (Nickà & Leach, 2010). After students are selected for different universities' faculty by the Ministry of Education, the universities' faculties allocate their students to different academic Programs (ETP, 1994). Each faculty of the university has a different quota for each academic program. Students can apply to any academic program under their stream. In this regard, students are supposed to list their preferred academic program in a ranking approach (e.g., first choice, 2nd choice, third choice 10th choice). If a student is not accepted (not qualified) to be admitted into his/her first-ranked academic Program, his or her application will be sent to the second-ranked academic Program. Consequently, depending on the place available, and the number of applicants, some students would be selected into the academic program of their first choice, and the rest selected out of their first choices on a competitive basis.
Mada Walabu University is one of the Universities established in 2006 in Ethiopia. The university is in Bale Zone, in the town of Robe, about 430 km from the capital city, Addis Ababa (Madda Walabu University Legislation, 2009). Students studying at this University come from all regions of the country. At this University, “Admissions and enrolments of students into all programs are processed by the University Registrar in consultation with a decision of the Senate standing committee called Admission and Enrollment Committee (AEC)” (Madda Walabu University Legislation, 2009). In this University, the places available for students in some academic Programs and the number of students who want to join them do not correspond. Some academic programs were chosen by more students than the expected quota of students for each academic program and others academic programs were chosen by fewer students than the expected quota. Consequently, many students were admitted into different academic programs without consideration of their first choices and interests. For example, the researcher has informally noticed a study program that had a vacancy to admit only 50 students, though the students who wanted to join the program were 100. As a result of this, the remaining 50 students did not get admitted into the academic programs of their first choice. The researcher remembers students who dropped out during their first-year education and others who repeated the courses among the students who did not get admitted into their first choice study program. Therefore, according to this researcher, this was a disadvantage and deprivation to an individual who has the quest and zeal to pursue his/her educational dreams. On the other hand, the researcher believes that attrition of students from universities during their first-year studies in Ethiopian universities could be the aftermath of such students' admission and selection practice. “Academic interest is usually characterized by stable individual trends and attitudes towards academic subjects, which may yield deep engagement in learning and thus high academic performance” (Schiefele, 1992). “If students lack interest in their field of study, it affects the way they react or listen to their instructors” (Nukpe, 2012). If students are assigned to their academic studies without their interests, aptitudes, and choices, unready students are forced to study in a discipline difficult for them while prepared students tend to be admitted to the subject that does not fit their knowledge level. This study argues that the academic performances of undergraduate students are influenced by a lack of Interests that happened due to wrong admission practices employed by the Universities. In this study, the admission practices by which students are selected into different disciplines are the independent variable while the Academic Performance of the students in their respective disciplines is a dependent variable. Several studies assessed the impact of students' admission practice on students' academic achievements. However, most of them concentrated on students' selection and admission at primary and secondary school level. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influences of students' admission and selection practices on undergraduate students' academic performances at one of the Universities in Ethiopia by answering the following questions:
Does the university admit students into their departments according to their first choices?
Is there a significant relationship between students' placement condition and their Academic performances?
Is there a significant difference between the CGPA performance of students who are selected into their study program by their first level choices and those students selected into their department out their first level choice?
Review literature
Entry into university is one of the most important periods when students decide their future career and it's a period of transition from high lower level to higher level of education. The choice of study program is one of the most important decisions students make in this period. They make this decision so that they can complete their study successfully (better performance) and secure good jobs after graduation. Several studies were carried out to find out the factors affecting students' performance and found out that Students' academic performance is impacted by many factors. “Students' academic performance is determined by the willingness to change, adaptability, complex decision-making, learning from mistakes, the change of controlled belief and choices” (Mappadang et al., 2022). Other researchers identified locus of control, learning method, and learning resources as factors correlated to students' academic performance(Cassidy & Eachus, 2000). Furthermore, expectation, volition, academic interest, learning attitude, and learning approach (Cassidy & Eachus, 2000) are among the factors correlated to students' academic performance. Additionally, gender, interest, working status (Garkaz et al., 2011), personality, parents' style, (Beatson, Berg, & Smith, 2019 as well as attendance and teaching quality ((Paisey & Paisey, 2005) are among are also considered as factors correlated to students' academic performance. Some other researchers highlighted individuals' internal characteristics (e.g. intelligence, self-concept, etc) and some others consider external characteristics (family, social status, educational environment, etc) as important factors correlated to students' academic performance. “In educational psychology, students' academic performance is considered as a product of their learning and for information on individual learning rate, one should refer to his visible behavior or to be more precise see his performance. It is also believed that individual academic performance is highly affected by motivation and emotion, environmental condition, tiredness, and illness” (Mappadang et al., 2022).
A lot of research has been conducted to look at different factors hindering students' academic performance. Those studies revealed Variables such as age, gender, talent, scores, high school experience, academic motivation, and students' expectations as necessary for students success (G. Ouano, Torre, Dela, I. Japitan, & C. Moneva, 2019). “University conditions and educational characteristics, i.e. professors' ability, attempt and motivation has significant relationship with students' performance and students with previous good experience enjoyed higher level of performance” (Rocha, Moraes, & Fischer, 2022). Furthermore, a suggestion has given by other researchers that scholastic aptitude, and previous academic background have a positive significant relationship with students' performance (Akey, 2006).
Noxel & Cheek, (1988) have emphasized the relationship between interest in the field of study and academic achievement while (Fadzillah, Jamaluddin, Ahmad, Din, & Jabar, 2020) emphasized students' attendance in the classrooms and importance of the subject and interest in this field of study has a positive and significant relationship with academic performance. “It has been verified that student attribute in terms of their academic performance, retention and graduation rate could be predicted by examining the criteria by which students were admitted” in (Garkaz et al., 2011). If so inclined and interested in learning a student can handle other factors and employ them for success and learning. Therefore, an interested student is more effective than a student who is not interested in a subject. “Students who possess high academic interests will continually expand their learning skills in their studies” Many studies have largely overlooked factors affecting student academic performance. However, there is contradiction in these findings; therefore, it is needed to carry out analysis of these and some other factors in depth. In addition, admission practices and its relationship to student academic performances and retention at university level has not been well studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of admission practices on academic interest and academic performance of undergraduate students at one of the universities in Ethiopia.
Methods
As indicated in Table 1 above the number, 126(54.0%) of male respondents exceed that of female respondents 107(46%) showing that male participation seems to be slightly higher that of females. Majority of the respondents 173(74.2%) were in their age range of 24–29 indicating that they were in reasonable age range to make decision regarding their academic study choices.
Background information of student respondents
| Department | 1st Yr | 3rd Yr | Age | A/C Yr of the study | ||||||||||
| Sex | 15–19 | 20–24 | 25–29 | First | Third | |||||||||
| M | F | |||||||||||||
| f | % | f | % | f | % | f | % | f | % | f | % | f | % | |
| Statistics | 18 | 60 | 12 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.3 | 29 | 96.6 | 15 | 50 | 15 | 50 |
| Maths | 19 | 63.3 | 11 | 36.7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 27 | 90 | 15 | 50 | 15 | 50 | |
| Inf. system | 17 | 56.6 | 13 | 45.4 | 2 | 6.6 | 7 | 23.3 | 21 | 70 | 15 | 50 | 15 | 50 |
| Computer Sc | 15 | 50 | 15 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 30 | 21 | 70 | 15 | 50 | 15 | 50 |
| English | 20 | 66.6 | 10 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.4 | 29 | 96.6 | 15 | 50 | 15 | 50 |
| Amharic | 9 | 30 | 16 | 53.3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 22 | 73.3 | 10 | 33.3 | 15 | 50 |
| Geography | 16 | 53.3 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 80 | 13 | 43.3 | 15 | 50 | |||
| History | 12 | 40 | 1 | 60 | 1 | 3.3 | 28 | 93.3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 50 | 15 | 50 |
Note: A/cyr = Academic Year, F = Female, M = Male, prep = Preparatory, f = frequency.
This study included two cohorts of undergraduate Students who were in first- and third-year studies by means of purposive sampling technique. A total of 115 (29.7%) students in their first-year studies, and 120 (37.8%) students in their third-year studies were included. Among 235 students two students didn't respond to the questionnaire. So, the data was collected from 233 students composed of students in their first and third years of studies. In addition, 2 university instructors were included in this study. Generally, 235 respondents were included as a primary source of data for this study. Among the 235 respondents only two teachers and two students involved in Interview questions. Additionally, a part of the University legislation documents related to students' selection as well as individual students' GPA were used as sources of data for this study as indicated in the following Table 1 below.
The data collected through questionnaire were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS; version 16) computer software. The quantitative data were condensed into descriptive statistics such as percentages, correlation and mean. The qualitative data obtained through documents and interviews were interpreted thematically. The difference in academic performance between students who were admitted into their academic study according to their first preferences and those without their preferences made by dividing sample students into two groups as:
Group A: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective Academic Program by their first rank choices.
Group B: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective academic program out of their first rank choices. Such a grouping was made to accommodate differences among individuals which could contribute to the difference in academic performance. Accordingly, the t-test was used to compare performance (achievement difference between group A and B). The mean difference in CGPA was obtained by comparing the mean value of CGPA of (Group A) with that of (Group B). Correlation coefficient was used to check the correlation between academic performances of students and students' selection practices.
Results
Admission practice is one of the key indicators to predict academic performance. The admission process in university needs to identify individuals who most probably can complete their studies. Because, it can negatively affect students' academic performances once they have joined their academic program without their ability and interest (Yousafzai & Jamil, 2019). Hence this study aims to understand the influence of the admissions practices on undergraduate students' academic performances at one of the Universities in Ethiopia. For this purpose, the study collected necessary data from students in their first- and third-year studies. For data analysis, those students were categorized into two groups of students, namely students who were admitted into their study program based on their first-ranked choices (Group A) and those who were admitted into their study programs out of their first-choice priority (Group B). The following Table 2 shows these two groups and their admission conditions.
Student Population, Sample and Sampling technique used in the study
| No | Schools | Sample A/Program (Departments) | Sample batches | T/Population | Sample students | Sampling technique used | ||
| 1st Yr | 3rd Yr | T | 1st Yr | 3rd Yr | Purposive | |||
| 1 | Engineering Technology | Inf. system | 59 | 30 | 89 | 15 | 15 | Stratified Random Sampling |
| Computer science | 134 | 77 | 211 | 15 | 15 | SRS | ||
| Math's | 58 | 49 | 107 | 15 | 15 | SRS | ||
| 2 | Mathematical science | Statistics | 62 | 51 | 103 | 15 | 15 | SRS |
| Amharic | 10 | 23 | 33 | 10 | 15 | Census | ||
| 3 | Language Studies | English | 21 | 30 | 51 | 15 | 15 | SRS |
| History | 20 | 30 | 50 | 15 | 15 | SRS | ||
| 4 | Social Science | Geography | 23 | 27 | 50 | 15 | 15 | SRS |
| Total | 387 | 317 | 704 | 115 | 120 | 235 | ||
Note: SRS = Stratified random sampling, 1st Yr = First Year, 3rd yr Year.
As indicated in Table 3 above from a total of 233 students fill in the questionnaire in this study, the majority, 129 (54.4%) of them were assigned to study in the academic programs out of their choice priority while only 104 (44.6%) joined their academic study according to their first choices. Student responses to the interview questions show that they were forced by the selection committee to study the academic program without their interest. If students express a lack interest in their field of study, they will not be motivated during instruction in the classroom and it can affect students teacher relations (Olufemi Adodo, 2012). Most of the students studying in academic Programs like ICT, statistics, mathematics were admitted into their study by their first choices. According to one of the teachers' interviews, more students demanded those academic Programs because the possibility of employment after graduation from those field of study was higher than academic programs running under humanities. So, most students did not demand to study those academic programs running under the Social Science and Humanities. This indicates that students are motivated by future careers when they choose their field of study and lack of this motivation can result in low academic performances and finally lead to academic failure. “The aim of the students entering the university is to graduate successfully and to realize their career expectations by being motivated and satisfied in their department” (Koyuncuoglu, 2020). Admitting students into their department (academic study) based on their choices and interests can encourage and energize them to perform academically while it has physiological, cognitive, and affective dimensions. “Motivated students perform better academically than unmotivated” (Broussard & Garrison, 2004). In relation to this, Madda Walabu University legislation document has reviewed to check what is the university rule related to students admission process, and article 37 of the document stipulated students' admission process as follows:
Students will be admitted into the program of their choices on a competitive basis using their grade as a measure. However special provisions shall be for female students and other socially disadvantaged group that require affirmative action.
Academic units may submit specific entrance requirements such as passed exam in certain subjects or additional test results and my state if, and what kinds of physical disabilities prevent students from pursuing studies in their respective disciplines. These requirements need to be developed by the relevant academic units and approved by the APC the senate.
In the cases where there are more applicants than places in a program, the applicants who fail to get their first choice will compete for their second choice and if they fail to their second choice, they compete for their third, fourth choice, etc.
The students admitted into their academic Program according to their first choices and those placed pot of their first choices
| Selection conditions | Academic programs | Total | |||||||
| Amharic | Computer science | English and literature | Geography and environmental studies | History and heritage management | Information system | Maths | Statistics | ||
| Without first choice | 21 | 9 | 25 | 18 | 26 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 129 (54.4%) |
| By first choice | 4 | 21 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 23 | 18 | 19 | 104 (44.6%) |
| Total | 25 | 30 | 30 | 28 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 233 |
This study found that many undergraduate students studying different Academic studies at this university were admitted into their study program out of their first rank choices and they were less motivated for better academic performances. This problem was more serious in academic program like History 26(84%) of 30 students and Amharic Language where 21 (86%) of the 26 students were selected for their academic program without their first-level choices. Here we can raise the question about the appropriateness of the admission practice and consistency of the admission practices for all academic programs of this University. The students were forced by the admission committees of this university to study in those academic programs. A study suggested that academic program leader should facilitate students ‘choices for academic fields by acting as gatekeepers, welcoming, and encouraging (G. Ouano et al., 2019).
The differences between students’ admission (placement) condition and their academic performances
This section presents data about the academic performance difference between the students group who were selected into their academic program based on their best interests (group A) and those assigned without their interests' priority respected (group B). The two-student group academic performance records were collected separately from the university registrar and employed for this purpose. T-test has been performed for this purpose. The following Table 3 shows the T-test result performed to see the academic performance differences between the two students' groups (Those selected into their academic study according to their first rank choice (A) and those assigned into their academic study without their first ranked choice priority (B).
“Many students who were assigned to the academic program I am teaching in without their interests, immediately faced learning difficulties because of lack of interests and ability in in the courses. For instance, I remember, that in the 2012 academic year many students failed disastrously in our faculty. Since then, I remember, about 30% of the students failed and got dismissed in the first semester. We tried to rehabilitate them by arranging tutorial classes however, ultimately all of them failed again and were dismissed in the second Semester of 2012.”
“I was an undergraduate student in the history department. When I chose my major, my first choice was sociology. I didn't want to study history as my major, but I was forced to study history. Since my plan was not to study History, I left the program and enrolled in a private college to study accounting.”
“I am studying in the Amharic Language department. When I chose my major, my first choice was Oromo Language. I cannot write or speak the Amharic Language properly. I don't want to work with it in the future. In addition, none of my friends who graduated from Amharic Language Department got jobs. I have seen that many graduates of Amharic are suffering from unemployment. So, I am afraid that my chances will not be different from them because there is no chance of employment for graduates of this department, I am forced to study in the Amharic Language department against my interests. I got low grades in the first semester, and I knew I would be expelled in the second semester.”
This study indicated that there was a significant difference in the performances of students who were admitted into their study program according to their first rank choices (Group A) and those assigned forcibly without consideration of their first-choice priority (group B). This indicated that it is true that low academic interests would result in low academic achievement. The finding of this study complements the previous finding by Garkaz et al. (2011), Singh, Granville, and Dika (2002) and Wijewardena and Rudkin (1999), which stated that students who are interested in their field of study perform better academically compared to those who lack interested in their field of study. Other studies also confirmed that “students who are intrinsically motivated, and are interested in their studies, seek to achieve personal goals, actively engage in learning with the intention of attaining understanding and intellectual development” (Lepper, 1988; Rio et al., 2022). In contrast, “students who have extrinsic motives and are only focused on achieving an external goal minimize the time and effort they expend on learning activities” (Lu, Yang, Shi, & Wang, 2021). Thus, to achieve the goal of developing higher order learning outcomes, and higher level professional for the economy of the country, intrinsic motivation is required among students at the university under this study.
Academic performance indicates the level of knowledge, skills, and competencies that a student has acquired during their studies, which is often evaluated with the grades obtained in the subjects. As demonstrated in Table 4 above, the Statistical analysis of Pearson correlation of students' selection condition and student CGPA, there is significant positive relationship between selection and placement condition and CGPA of students at (r = 0.706*, p < 0.05) level of significance. This suggested that students who were selected and admitted to their academic study based on their own their first level preferences were motivated and performed academically better than their counterparts who were enrolled in their academic studies not according to their first level preferences. This implies that one of the factors that was affecting students' academic performances of the students at the university under this study was the admission practices and procedures employed to allocate students into different academic Program at this University. “Students' expectation of success and their confidence in their abilities is positively associated with their academic performance” (Steinmayr, Weidinger, Schwinger, & Spinath, 2019), “Highly motivated students are more active and experience better academic performances” (Tella, 2007). Therefore, one of the factors that affect students' learning and academic performance is the way the university admits and enrolls students into different academic programs. To achieve the aims of educating and successfully graduate their students, the universities need to consider students' interests and ability at minimal standard during students' selection and admission process.
The differences between students' admission (placement) condition and their academic performances
| Placement to department | f | % | MGPA | d.f | t | p |
| Without first choice | 129 | 55.4 | 2.6212 | 115 | 1.30 | 0.041 |
| By first choice | 104 | 44.7 | 3.2160 | |||
| Total | 233 | 100 |
Note: MGPA = Mean Grade Point Average, f = Frequency, t = Calculated value, df = degree of freedom.
The correlation between admission condition and students academic performances across eight academic programs
| Item of Correlation | Admission condition | CGPA in department | |
| Admission condition | Pearson Correlation | 5 | 0.706** |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 5 | ||
| N | 233 | 233 | |
| CGPA in Department | Pearson Correlation | 0.706** | 5 |
| Sig. (2-tailed) | 0.05 | ||
| N | 233 | 233 |
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Note: Admission condition in above Table 5 indicates how the students admitted into their academic program. It shows two conditions namely admission into an academic program according to students' own first preference and admitting students into academic program out of their own first choices.
Discussion
The main objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between undergraduate students' selection and admission practices and the resulting students' academic performance in one of the Universities in Ethiopia, East Africa. To achieve this purpose a total of 233 undergraduate students who were in their first- and third year of studies were selected from eight departments as a primary source of data for this study. Interview has been conducted with some teachers to complement the data from the students. In addition, students grade report documents and the university legislation has been used. The study employed a mixed research method to address three research questions laid down in this study. Questionnaire, Interview and Documents were employed to collect necessary data. Among the 233 total number of sample students, most 129 (54.4%) of them were selected and admitted into their academic studies without consideration of their first level choices. The students who were admitted into their academic studies not according to their first level choices found academically not successful while about 104 (44.6%) of the students admitted into their academic studies according to their first level choices were found academically successful. The current finding is aligned with the previous findings which indicated that when student lack interests towards their field of studies, it is very likely that it has serious consequences on their academic performances (Lepper, 1988). Thus, this study suggests achieving their mission for education students and producing manpower for the economy consideration of students' interests, and ability is desirable during students' selection and enrollment across different academic studies in the university.
Conclusion
The current research investigated the influence of admission and enrollment practices on interest and academic performance of undergraduate students at one of the Universities in Ethiopia. To achieve this objective, it categorized students into two groups. These are Group A: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective Academic Program according to their first level choices. Group B: Students who were selected and admitted into their respective academic program not according to their first level choices. To examine whether selection and admission practices had an impact on student academic performances, Pearson correlation and T-test was performed. The result of Pearson correlation shows that there is statistically signification positive relation between the selection condition (selection according to students first level preferences and without first level preferences) and students' academic performances in their study programs. Students who were enrolled into their academic programs out of their first level preferences were found academically not successful in their studies. The result of t-test indicated that there is statistically significant difference between the Cumulative Grade point Average (CGPA) of students who were selected and admitted into their academic study programs, according to their first level preferences (group A) and those who were not admitted into their academic programs according to their first level preferences (group B). The findings of this study concluded that one of the main factors hindering academic performance (CGPA) of students at the university under this study was the students' selection and admission practices which doesn't give priority for students interests and choices. Therefore, if care is not taken in during selection and admission of students, it will lead to dropout, dismissal, and repeating courses resulting economic and psychological loss. Therefore, to avoid psychological, economic and education quality effect of students' admission practices, due attention should be given to these practices in during students' selection into and placement into different fields of study.
Implications
As the theoretical contribution, the findings partially strengthen the previous findings which indicated that academic interests contribute to academic performances. Furthermore, the results of this study also add to the existing literature on measuring student performance from the perspectives of students' selection and admission process. The finding of the study might further have implications for teachers, researchers, key educational policy makers and other educational experts to explore possibilities of developing more effective ways of placing students into different fields of studies in universities in Ethiopia.
Recommendations
To fill the need of trained manpower in various field of study, the finding of this study recommends admission of students into different academic program shall prioritize students' choices, interests, and abilities. A clearly defined and visible academic advising system shall also be available for all students before they choices their academic program. The author also recommended that universities need to prepare entrance tests for the purpose of selecting students into different fields of studies. If this is done, the unprepared students could be recognized and given the needed assistance while the prepared students may be selected into the academic programs that matched their interests and knowledge levels.
Further research needs to be done to investigate the effect of interests in the field of study on workplace performances in Ethiopia.
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank all participants of this study for devoting their precious time to respond to interviews and fulfilling the questionnaire.
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