The Relationship between Selected Predictor Variables and Successful Completion of Online Courses at a Selected Theological Institution

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between selected variables (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, financial assistance, student status, number of previous online courses, current online course load) and grade achievement of nontraditional, online students at a selected theological institution. The participants consisted of 899 students who enrolled in 37 online courses offered by the institution during Spring 2007. Logistic regression and descriptive analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings from the study showed that three of the independent variables (age, ethnicity, and number of previous online courses) were predictors of grade of achievement. These findings are congruent with previous research which also found that these variables were predictors of student success in online courses.