Employing Noncognitive Variables in Admitting and Advising Community College Students

ABSTRACT

As community colleges have more applicants, more programs have turned to selective admissions. Additionally, good postmatriculation advising requires more useful assessments than have been possible employing such measures as prior grade-point average (GPA). A variety of problems have been identified in relying on GPA. A series of noncognitive variables, as measured by the Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ), were included in a study of 263 community college students in health sciences programs at a western community college. NCQ scores were related to college grades using Pearson correlation and multiple regression. Results showed modest but statistically significant relationships with community college grades. The NCQ scales of Community, Leadership and Strong Support Person contributed most to multiple-regression Equations predicting college grades. NCQ scales tended to correlate highest with early and late community college grades. While students in the study had mean NCQ scores similar to normative samples, they tended to be lowest on Community, which was most predictive of their performance. It is recommended that a predicted GPA generated from NCQ scores be added to the admissions criteria for health programs at the college, and that pre and postmatriculation advising programs include use of noncognitive variables.