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Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic success in higher education

Mona Bassleer (UGent) , Stijn Schelfhout (UGent) , Lot Fonteyne (UGent) , Maya Caen (UGent) , Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij (UGent) , Nicolas Dirix (UGent) and Wouter Duyck (UGent)
(2025) EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 37(3). p.411-436
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Abstract
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in temporary closures of educational institutions and has shifted the educational process towards the use of distance education. Despite the efforts, severe learning losses and larger educational inequality are found in compulsory education. To complement this knowledge, the present prospective study focuses on higher education by analyzing academic success data of Flemish first-year university students (N = 24,404) spanning six years. COVID-19 learning losses are assessed in a natural setting, considering various background and (non-)cognitive student characteristics. Results for the full pandemic year 2020-2021 indicate that although the overall negative impact of the pandemic on academic success is rather small, the variance in academic success does increase. Low socio-economic status students show larger learning losses, and the socio-economic gap widens. Our findings imply that COVID-19 learning losses in higher education are less pervasive than in compulsory education, though inequality issues also arise.
Keywords
COVID-19, Higher education, Academic success, Student characteristics, Educational inequality

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Citation

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MLA
Bassleer, Mona, et al. “Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Success in Higher Education.” EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY, vol. 37, no. 3, 2025, pp. 411–36, doi:10.1007/s11092-025-09456-x.
APA
Bassleer, M., Schelfhout, S., Fonteyne, L., Caen, M., De Bourdeaudhuij, I., Dirix, N., & Duyck, W. (2025). Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic success in higher education. EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY, 37(3), 411–436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-025-09456-x
Chicago author-date
Bassleer, Mona, Stijn Schelfhout, Lot Fonteyne, Maya Caen, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Nicolas Dirix, and Wouter Duyck. 2025. “Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Success in Higher Education.” EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY 37 (3): 411–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-025-09456-x.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Bassleer, Mona, Stijn Schelfhout, Lot Fonteyne, Maya Caen, Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Nicolas Dirix, and Wouter Duyck. 2025. “Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Success in Higher Education.” EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY 37 (3): 411–436. doi:10.1007/s11092-025-09456-x.
Vancouver
1.
Bassleer M, Schelfhout S, Fonteyne L, Caen M, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Dirix N, et al. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic success in higher education. EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY. 2025;37(3):411–36.
IEEE
[1]
M. Bassleer et al., “Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic success in higher education,” EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 411–436, 2025.
@article{01JXM8KW0JN07AEMQYDQ280SN3,
  abstract     = {{The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in temporary closures of educational institutions and has shifted the educational process towards the use of distance education. Despite the efforts, severe learning losses and larger educational inequality are found in compulsory education. To complement this knowledge, the present prospective study focuses on higher education by analyzing academic success data of Flemish first-year university students (N = 24,404) spanning six years. COVID-19 learning losses are assessed in a natural setting, considering various background and (non-)cognitive student characteristics. Results for the full pandemic year 2020-2021 indicate that although the overall negative impact of the pandemic on academic success is rather small, the variance in academic success does increase. Low socio-economic status students show larger learning losses, and the socio-economic gap widens. Our findings imply that COVID-19 learning losses in higher education are less pervasive than in compulsory education, though inequality issues also arise.}},
  author       = {{Bassleer, Mona and Schelfhout, Stijn and Fonteyne, Lot and Caen, Maya and De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse and Dirix, Nicolas and Duyck, Wouter}},
  issn         = {{1874-8597}},
  journal      = {{EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY}},
  keywords     = {{COVID-19,Higher education,Academic success,Student characteristics,Educational inequality}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{411--436}},
  title        = {{Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic success in higher education}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-025-09456-x}},
  volume       = {{37}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}
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