Abstract:
This study investigated readiness as a correlate of academic success among beginning university students. A total of
829 first-time entering students from a large business sciences faculty were participants (males = 319, females = 510,
mean age = 19, SD = 0.50 years). They completed the Academic Readiness Questionnaire (Lemmens, 2010) during the
first-year orientation week. Data on academic success, consisting of subject marks and credits were collected in 2009
after a results verification process. Data were analysed with three separate multiple regression analyses. The first
analysis consisted of the overall student sample, the second and third consisted of the black and the white students
separated from the overall student sample. The main findings reveal that high school marks, the number of subjects in
first year (credits registered), goal orientation, race, learning-efficacy, gender and the geographical area of high school
have a direct relationship with academic success. The variables that predict academic success for black students are
high school marks, credits registered, and parental education. The variables that predict academic success for white
students are high school marks, goal orientation, credits registered, learning-efficacy, gender, and parental education.
