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Peer‑to‑peer tutoring is widely used in higher education to support academic success, yet evidence of its effectiveness varies depending on how success is measured. This study examined the relationship between peer‑to‑peer tutoring attendance and academic success at both the individual student level and course levels in residential health science courses at a large private four‑year institution. Using a causal‑comparative design, data from 3,670 students enrolled in biology and chemistry courses during the fall 2021 semester were analyzed using chi‑square tests and linear regressions. Results indicated that tutoring attendance and frequency were associated with individual course grades and semester GPA in limited ways, with effect sizes generally small. However, stronger associations emerged at the course‑section level, where higher proportions of students attending tutoring were associated with differences in course success rates, particularly in lower‑level biology courses. These section‑level patterns likely reflect underlying course difficulty and common academic challenges rather than direct effects of tutoring on student performance. This suggests peer‑to‑peer tutoring may play a more meaningful role in supporting course‑level academic success than in assessing individual academic performance. The study highlights the importance of evaluating tutoring effectiveness across multiple levels of analysis and cautions against relying solely on individual student outcomes when assessing academic support services.
Keywords: peer‑to‑peer tutoring, academic success, tutoring program evaluation, foundational science courses
How to Cite: Manicone, H. A. & Burgess, L. E. (2026) “Understanding the Impact of Peer‑to‑Peer Tutoring: Individual and Course‑Level Associations with Academic Success”, Journal of the National Organization for Student Success. 3(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.61617/jnoss.115
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