Factors influencing academic performance of self-sponsored students in the school of engineering, university of Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

University education plays a crucial role in national development. Through self sponsored (module II) programmes, invaluable opportunity has been opened to hundreds of Kenyans and non-Kenyans, on a paying basis, who meet university admission requirements, but who have not been able to access university education due to restricted intake into the regular programmes that is determined by limited resource allocation by Government. The School of Engineering (SoE) is offers a 5-year fulltime degree course. Over the years, the results released to the students have indicated a higher percentage of failures among self sponsored students despite integration.

This study sought to establish the reasons behind the disparity in performance between government and self sponsored students. The objectives of the study were to establish the extent to which residence, entry grades, class attendance and infrastructure influence the academic performance of self sponsored students in the School. A sample of 382 respondents was drawn from the self sponsored students in level 1-4 in the three largest departments of Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, using the systematic random sampling method.

The study found that residence, entry grades, class attendance and adequacy of infrastructure' had a significant influence on academic performance. The findings of the study agreed with studies conducted by different scholars across the globe. This findings will be useful to institutions of higher learning in assisting them to address the issues affecting academic programmes and further contribute to better management of the fast growing module II programmes which have become popular in all universities.