Impact of Enrollment Timing on Performance: The Case of Students Studying the First Course in Accounting

Khalid A. Alanzi, Mishari M. Alfraih and Faisal S. Alanezi

The aim of this study was to expose the impact of enrollment timing on the academic performance of students studying the first course in accounting. Correlation and t-test analyses using a sample of 339 students who passed the first course in accounting and were enrolled in one of the more advanced accounting courses during the 2014/2015 academic year at the College of Business Studies in Kuwait were used to test the study's hypotheses. The results indicate that there was a statistically significant and negative relationship between enrollment timing and students’ performance, which explained the superiority of the performance of freshmen students group over the performance of ongoing students group. The study concludes by considering the implications of these findings for the administration team of the College of Business Studies and for similar educational institutions, and suggests avenues for future research.