A finite mixture regression model for evaluating University admission test and students’ careers

The evaluation of the initial preparation of students wishing to enroll in a degree program is an important issue since students are required to take an admission test before enrolling in a degree program. In this paper we aim at investigating the effect of the University admission test on the students’ careers at the end of the first academic year, also detecting, if they exist, unobserved but meaningful subgroups of students with similar progression in their university careers. The analysis is referred to the participants to the admission test carried out in September 2011 at the Department of Economics and Management, University of Pisa. Data were analysed using a finite mixture regerssion model in order to investigate population heterogeneity.