ABSTRACT
In this study, graduate "programs of strategic emphasis” at a state university in Florida, USA during the spring semesters of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 were examined. The students' application, enrollment, performance, and graduation data for the four semesters were collected and analyzed. Due to COVID-19, all courses had to be delivered purely online in the latter spring semester of 2020. Facing various challenges and uncertainties, the Graduate School worked with all programs to update their programs and remove admission barriers, including graduate record examination (GRE) requirements. After the onset of the pandemic, the number of applicants increased (p < 0.001), the number of students enrolled increased (p < 0.001), and the yield rate of enrolled new students compared to applicants decreased (p < 0.001). Despite the removal of admission barriers, the undergraduate grade point averages (GPA) of new applicants did not decrease (p = 0.500), graduate GPA in the first semester increased (p < 0.001), and overall graduate GPA increased (p < 0.001). Finally, graduation rates increased after the onset of the pandemic (p < 0.001). This study demonstrates that despite challenges due to the pandemic, removal of admission barriers did not adversely affect student outcomes. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
Due to COVID-19, all courses at a regional comprehensive university in the southeastern United States transitioned online and were delivered remotely in the latter half of the spring semester of 2020. In this study, students' performance data from four graduate programs in social sciences and two graduate mathematics programs for the spring semesters of 2019, 2020, and 2021 were collected and analyzed. Different e-learning methods were used across the different fields represented in these graduate programs. This study shows that graduate students performed well and synchronous hybrid courses reduced or negated the negative impacts of the pandemic COVID-19 on student learning. The percentage of students receiving a "B-” or better did not change significantly over time (p = 0.796 for social sciences and p = 0.315 for mathematics), total enrollment increased over time (p < 0.001 for both social sciences and mathematics), and graduation rates remained constant for social sciences (p = 0.346) while there was a bolus of graduating students in spring 2020 for mathematics (p < 0.001). Based on this study, recommendations were made for teaching and learning in future graduate level courses. © 2022, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. All rights reserved.