Financial aid contributes significantly to higher education participation in South Africa. However, while research focused on how financial aid improved access to University, little is known about its effect on ‘on-time' degree completion. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate to what extent financial aid affected the likelihood of on-time graduation as a function of selected student input and higher educational factors for students' success in studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). To better understand the above factors, the researcher conducted a quantitative study applying Event History Analysis (EHA) and the Input-Environment-Output (I-E-O) model (Astin, 1993). A logistic regression within a discrete-time model with a personperiod dataset was performed. Data from the 2013 to 2018 UCT student records formed the basis of this research with a sample size of N=842. Based on the literature review, the input variables were gender, race, age, school type, final grade 12 marks and students' performance in the National Benchmark Tests (NBT). The environmental variables were enrollment in the academic development and support programme ‘Step-Up' and financial aid. Contrary to expectation, the results for the environmental variables surprisingly revealed that receiving financial aid decreased the likelihood of on-time graduation. Receiving GAP Aid indicated no statistically significant association with on-time graduation. Furthermore, enrolment in Step Up significantly increased the likelihood of on-time graduation, all else being equal. The findings for the input variables indicated that females and younger students were more likely to graduate on time than males and older students. White students were more likely to graduate on time than Black, Coloured and Indian/Asian students, which shows that this issue remains a transformation issue for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Another unexpected result was that the type of school attended and participation in NSC English indicated no association with on-time graduation. Most notably, students with NSC Accounting had a more significantly positive likelihood of on-time graduation than students with NSC Mathematics only. The research findings contribute value to the discussions on accounting education research and how to improve on-time degree completion. Secondly, the results could benefit policy decisions for student admission to the BCom programme. While the research results will reflect the nature of this specific university, the findings may also be valuable to other public HEIs with similar admission standards and student bodies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/37794 |
| Date | 20 April 2023 |
| Creators | Roos, Lily Elizabeth |
| Contributors | Carpenter, Riley |
| Publisher | Faculty of Commerce, College of Accounting |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MCom |
| Format | application/pdf |
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