In Spain, most universities are public, and to gain entry, students must pass a University Entrance Exam (EBAU). Private universities have emerged as an alternative to the public system, and in addition to the EBAU, they typically administer supplementary instruments to assess other types of competencies.

Admission processes provide an opportunity to assess relevant competencies associated with academic success, both cognitive and non-cognitive. Emphasizing broader admission criteria allows institutions to align with their stated objectives (Stemler, 2012) while also gathering diverse validity evidence to support the intended use of the obtained scores (AERA et al., 2014; Sireci & Benítez, 2023). However, assessing competencies in high-stakes contexts is not without challenges, such as the susceptibility of self-report instruments to response biases.

The primary objective of the study was to identify which instruments could be effectively and non-redundantly used in the admissions process to assess the multifaceted competencies of university applicants.

Nine tests were administered 1,184 individuals during the 2024-25 admission processes for certain degrees at a private university in Spain. Specifically, four cognitive tests, four non-cognitive tests, and a curriculum-sampling test (CST) designed for each degree.

Of the 1,184 applicants, 369 students enrolled at the university. We examined the relationships between the administered admission tests and high school GPA (HSGPA), which serves as a proxy for academic success. The results indicated that it is generally beneficial to apply broadened criteria in the admission process. HSGPA correlated primarily with cognitive competencies (particularly spelling), and among non-cognitive competencies, the most relevant were self-efficacy and organizational skills. HSGPA also correlated with CTS scores. Among cognitive competencies, spelling showed the strongest correlation with non-cognitive competencies.

In general, CST correlated more strongly with cognitive competencies, particularly verbal reasoning and logical reasoning, than with non-cognitive ones. Spelling was the cognitive competency with the lowest correlation with CST, as it correlated more strongly with non-cognitive competencies. Self-efficacy was the non-cognitive competency with the highest correlation with CST.

This study discusses the findings in relation to previous research, such as those of Niessen and Meijer (2017), and provides evidence to support decisions about which measures to use in the admission process to capture a multi-component view of competencies. Future research is needed to complement these findings with first-year GPA or other academic success predictors and to explore self-presentation behavior in non-cognitive assessments.

References:
[1] AERA, APA, & NCME. (2014). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. American Educational Research Association.
[2] Niessen, A. S. M., & Meijer, R. R. (2017). On the use of broadened admission criteria in higher education. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(3), 436-448. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616683050
[3] Sireci, S., & Benítez, I. (2023). Evidence for test validation: A guide for practitioners. Psicothema, 35(3), 217–226.
[4] Stemler, S. E. (2012). What should university admissions tests predict? Educational Psychologist, 47, 5–17. doi:10.1080/00461520.2011.611444

Keywords: Admission Processes, University, Measurement, Validity, Cognitive Competencies, Non-Cognitive Competencies.