Examination of the Relationship Between Student Academic Outcomes and Usage of the Campus Recreational Facility

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the relationship between student academic outcomes, such as grade point average (GPA) and retention, and usage of the campus recreational facility. The population of interest was first-time full-time degree seeking freshmen. It was found that as the mean high school GPA of students increased, the frequency of visits to the recreational facility increased. In the analysis of first-term GPA, as the term GPA increased, so did the visit frequency. For male students, the statistical significance in the mean term GPA by visit category became less distinct as the high school GPA increased. The opposite was true for female students. The final analyses assessed first- to second-year, first- to third-year, and second- to third-year retention rates. In most analyses, statistically significant differences in retention rates were present between various visit categories; however, term GPA was the most significant predictor of retention.