Selecting Foreign Students – Are GPA and Ratings Interchangeable as Criterion Variables?

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between certain background variables often used to select foreign students for study in the U. S. and two criterion variables – GPA and ratings of on-the-job success upon returning to their home country. It represents an effort to determine whether GPA is a reasonable substitute for ratings of on-the-job as a criterion variable. The relationship between six background variables and the two criterion variables was studied in a group of Honduran educators who studied in Florida during 1969-1970. The study indicated that some variables which were good predictors of GPA were poor predictors of ratings of on-the-job success, and that most variables were more highly correlated with GPA than with ratings.