Assessment of the impact of the freshman engineering courses

This study is based on historical data for a 28 year period, from 1966 through 1993. The study evaluates if the freshmen engineering courses supply the entering engineering student with the necessary foundation to persist in engineering because of the skills he/she acquires in these courses. To measure this, the authors evaluate longitudinal data on retention and graduation rates of students that start in the standard first semester courses, start in the off sequence semester or participate in their tutorial program and complete the engineering curriculum.