Is Academic Support Only for Students Who “Need” It? An Analysis of Supplemental Instruction by GPA

Universities invest a significant amount of money in funding academic support services such as Supplemental Instruction (SI) programs. Oftentimes these efforts are aimed at contributing to the success and retention of students who “need” extra support, defined by grade point average (GPA). To determine the value of university investments in SI programs open to all students enrolled in SI-supported courses, the goal of this study was to assess the impact of SI support on students by GPA level. A matched pairs analysis was conducted, in which students were randomly matched based on several criteria (i.e., enrolled in same section of the course, both first time at the university or transfer students, both new or continuing students, and same GPA category of four categories). One student in each matched pair was a non-SI attendee, and the other student in the pair was a regular SI attendee (i.e., attended five or more times). Course success rates of the students in the matched pairs were then compared using independent samples t-tests. Results between non-attendees and regular attendees indicate that SI contributed significantly to course success rates of all students regardless of GPA. However, the most significant gains were realized by students with the lowest GPAs.