Institutional, pedagogical, psychosocial and socio-demographic factors related to academic performance at the University of Costa Rica: a multilevel analysis

A multilevel analysis was conducted to predict final grades in courses from different majors for a sample, stratified by academic areas, of 848 students at the University of Costa Rica. A group of factors from institutional, socio-demographic, psychosocial and pedagogical aspects were employed as independent variables. The best predictor was the Admission Average, which combines grades from high school and an aptitude test score. Some non-cognitive variables were also explicative; the most important being the score on a scale of emotional intelligence. The methodology employed by the professor showed explicative power as well.