The Effect of Student’s Place of Residence on Academic Performance: A Case Study of School of Statistics And Planning

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of student’s place of residence on academic performance of Makerere University undergraduate students. It specifically determined the mean A’ level score and CGPA of students with different living arrangements, assessed the influence of student’s living arrangements on their mean GPA and CGPAs and it lastly also assessed the influence of other factors on students’ GPA and CGPA. Data for the study was collected through a questionnaire survey from purposively selected 100 undergraduate students which was analyzed in Stata version 15.0. Descriptive statistics were employed to determine the critical factors that influenced students’ choice of residential accommodation facilities, Spearman’s correlation and ANOVA was used to address the research hypothesis. The study results showed that mean A’ level score and CGPA of students with different living arrangements are constant was rejected revealing that mean A’ level score and CGPA were found to differ for students in different living arrangements. Actually, students residing in halls appeared to perform slightly higher than students residing in other facilities. Also, a statistically significant difference was found between student’s CGPA and the type of place of residence they belonged in the way that students around campus scored CGPA above 3.6 (Second-Upper division) and were more likely to perform higher than their counterparts that reside slightly away from the University. Lastly, factors such as type of place of residence, mother’s education level, course of study, type of sponsorship significantly predicted academic performance of students. The study therefore recommends that the university management together with the concerned stake holders need not only to increase/expand the accommodation of the University halls of residence but also improve the quality of life of university halls.