The COVID-19 pandemic brought many changes to our daily activities, and one of the most affected fields was education. In Mexico, in particular, all levels had to adopt a distance learning modality using various resources.

This modality lasted several years. In Mexico, educational institutions closed their doors in March 2020. Initially, this measure was expected to be short-term; however, it extended for almost two years. As a result, many students finished the previous level remotely and even began the next level also remotely.

Distance education generated much controversy. While it was seen as an opportunity for students to continue their progress, there were also opinions that the training was inadequate, especially in an educational system that was not accustomed to this modality.

The impact of having finished or mostly completed a previous level remotely is a phenomenon that has been analyzed, particularly, since the activities were resumed in a traditional way.

In higher education, prior training in the previous level is of great importance, as it requires students to have a solid foundation for having an appropriate start in their superior studies. This is especially true in the study of engineering, where knowledge of basic sciences is vital for starting a university career.

Considering this, an analysis of the academic performance of first-year students in various engineering programs at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in Mexico is presented. This performance is measured by considering aspects such as the admission exam scores and the grades obtained in two first-year mathematics courses.

To do this, the period of students' enrollment is taken into account, comparing those who completed the previous level in the traditional way with those who finished it remotely and those who, once activities resumed, also completed it in person. This information will be used to detect if there were any changes in academic performance due to the impact of distance learning.

Keywords: Impact of distance education, virtual education, education research, education performance.