TREND ANALYSIS OF FIRST YEAR STUDENT EXPERIENCE IN UNIVERSITY

Using the theoretical framework of Tinto (2013), the first objective of the current research was to establish first year students' experience in the first few weeks of their studies in university, and the second objective addressed some of the problems they faced within those first few weeks. Based on the research objectives, data was collected using a questionnaire data. The total number of participants in the survey was 4 020. This represented 27 per cent (4 020 out of 15 217) of all University of the Mega Don (pseudonym) first year students registered in 2014. Findings of the study revealed that 34 (0.9%) of the surveyed students reported that they have disabilities. Of all these students with disability, the majority (327 out of 338 (96.7%) are not registered with the disability office. Over 50 per cent of students, typically those from low-income or deprived circumstances, dropout due to financial struggles to carry the direct and indirect costs of university attendance. Some of dropout as the financial circumstances depreciate. Findings further indicated that late registration and other reasons were the cause of 1 001 (25.7%) of the surveyed students not attending orientation. orientation. However, almost half (1 604 / 48.5%) of the surveyed students would like some of the orientation sessions to be offered again later in the year. The outcome of study revealed that 1 835 (47.3%) of the students were ignorant of where the Student Development Support (SDS) was located on their campus. Just under 50 per cent (47.5%) of the students who participated in the study were unhappy with their living places. The findings further showed that 1 187 (31.8%) of the participants encountered difficulties with transport. The majority of the respondents 2 827 (74.9%) would choose University of the Mega Don again if they were re-choosing a University. Most of the surveyed students, 58.3 per cent, valued their experience at University of the Mega Don between good and very good.