Association Between Admission Types and Academic Achievement of Students at The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Phayao, Thailand

Abstract

This research aims to examine the association between admission types and academic performance among students enrolled in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Phayao, Thailand, during the academic years 2018-2022. The study involved a population of 787 students. We utilized a data collection form to retrospectively collect data from the University of Phayao’s student registration database. The independent variable in this study is the admission type, categorized into four groups based on the type of central admission system, with the TCAS 1 group serving as the reference group. The primary outcome was the cumulative grade point average (GPA) throughout the curriculum. Statistical analysis was conducted using linear regression, adjusting for gender, academic year, and program. After removing students who dropped out or took academic leaves, a total of 682 students remained for analysis. The results showed that the TCAS 2 group had no statistically significant difference in average academic performance compared to the TCAS 1 group. In contrast, the TCAS 3 and TCAS 4 groups had significantly higher grade point averages compared to the TCAS 1 group, with adjusted beta-coefficient (95% confidence interval) of 0.18 (0.09, 0.27) and 0.17 (0.09, 0.25), respectively. The results from the sensitivity and subgroup analysis were consistent with the main analysis. Therefore, it can be concluded that students admitted through TCAS 3 and TCAS 4 demonstrated higher academic achievement compared to those admitted through TCAS 1. This finding may have implications for adjusting admission proportions in the future and planning for closer monitoring of the academic performance of students admitted through TCAS 1 and TCAS 2.