Influence of Entrance Exams Results on Foreign Students in Economics Studies at University of Economics, Prague

Abstract

Background and purpose: The purpose of the article is to analyse results of entrance exams and of regularly exams for foreign students in the Czech language undergraduate study programs at four faculties of University of Economics, Prague (UEP) with the intention to investigate the dependency between the results of Entrance exams from English and mathematics and (1) results of regularly exams during the study and between (2) completion rate of the study. Design/Methodology/Approach: We have analysed 4.381 records for applicants from foreign countries who ap­plied for studies between years 2009 and 2015. We used standard statistics methods and the method of logistic regression in the form of logit model. Results We identified weak statistical correlation between entrance exam results from mathematics and results of regular exams. The correlation coefficient varies between 0.078 – 0.283 for investigated faculties of UEP. The same indicator for English language exams presents better values and it varies between 0.218 – 0.312. If an entrance exam result is higher by one point, the probability of successful completion of studies is multiplied by values between 1.017 - 1.042 for individual faculty per one additional point. Conclusion: The results of the research in mathematics and English language show that excellent results in entrance exam cannot not guarantee successful regularly exams. Conclusion for the probability of completing studies is that the acceptable level of points for admission foreign students is between 150 and 170 points, depending on the faculty. Keywords: knowledge; foreign student; university; english language; mathematics