One of the most compelling questions in higher education is why some students achieve and others do not. In this study, 1323 Virginia Tech students who completed the 1985 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) freshman survey were followed up over a four-year period in order to identify characteristics that explain differences in grades. Three major categories of characteristics were studied: institutional characteristics, student demographic characteristics, and student nontraditional characteristics. Forty characteristics were regressed on the final quality credit average (QCA) for each of the four undergraduate years. Separate regression analyses were run for the university as a whole, each of the seven undergraduate colleges, and three subject-area clusters within the College of Arts & Sciences. The outcome was a set of 44 profiles of significant characteristics related to grades. These profiles were intended as a useful reference for both faculty members and administrators.

The multivariate regression analyses identified a number of institutional and student characteristics that explained approximately 25 percent of the variance in student grades at Virginia Tech. Institutional characteristics accounted for about 6 percent of the total variance in student grades. The strongest and most consistent characteristics were selectivity and weighted student credit hours productivity. Student demographic characteristics accounted for about 12 percent of the total variance in student grades. The strongest and most consistent demographic variables were high school rank and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. Five other demographic characteristics -- gender, age, parent income, parent education, and race -- were also significant factors in isolated cases. Student nontraditional factors accounted for about 7 percent of the variance in student grades. Generally, student behaviors exhibited a stronger relationship with student grades than student attitudes, values, or personality traits. Study behavior and writing skills seemed to have the strongest and most consistent relationship with grades. Other nontraditional factors, including athletic interest, fraternal interest, self-efficacy, help-seeking behavior, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, locus of control, and leadership were also significantly related to grades in isolated cases.