Can We Predict Success in the First Intermediate Accounting Course from Sophomore-Level Performance?

The purpose of this study was to determine potential predictors of success for transfer and nontransfer students in their first intermediate accounting class. Data was collected on the grades in the sophomore-level accounting classes, cumulative GPA, transfer status and student’s gender for 251 students completing the first intermediate accounting class. The data further identified students with the main campus and two teaching centers offering the intermediate accounting course. Further analysis was done on the 76 students that took the course at the main campus because the two teaching centers enrolled mostly transfer students. The cumulative GPA and the grades in the sophomore-level classes were highly correlated to the grade in the first intermediate accounting course. Overall, we found that the managerial accounting class was the best predictor of a student’s grade in the first intermediate accounting class when we focused on the main campus sample. The transfer status and student gender were generally not significantly associated with the grade.