Higher education institutions play a pivotal role in producing qualified human power that enables solving the real problems of a community [1]. Education is a powerful agent of change that improves health and livelihoods and contributes to social stability. At the micro-level, it is associated with better living standards for individuals through improved productivity; given that those who have received a higher education tend to have more economic and social opportunities. At the macro level, education builds well-informed and skilled human capital, which has been considered an engine of economic growth, that positively contributes to economic development [2]. However, gaining knowledge, attitudes, values, and skills through education is not a simple task; rather it is a long and challenging trip in life. Students are expected to spend much of their time studying and need to graduate with good academic results.

Academic performance/ achievement is the extent to which a student, teacher, or institution has attained their short or long-term educational goals and is measured either by continuous assessment or cumulative grade point average (CGPA) [3]. A correlational study among vocational high school students in Indonesia found that students who had good academic achievements have higher income, better employment benefits, and more advancement opportunities [4]. Besides, academically successful students have higher self-esteem and self-confidence, low levels of anxiety and depression, are socially inclined, and are less likely to engage in substance abuse, i.e., alcohol and khat [5]. However, a cross-sectional study in Malaysia in higher learning institutions reported that an increasing number of students still do not graduate on time, suggesting that they did not perform well in their studies [6].

Despite excessive government investment in education, most students fail to achieve good academic performance at all levels of education. A correlational study in Arba Minch University, South Ethiopia, reported that the trend of graduating students is not proportional to the trend of enrolled students and more students commit readmission due to poor academic performance [7]. This resulted in unemployment, poverty, drugs elicit, promiscuity, homelessness, illegal activities, social isolation, insufficient health insurance, and dependence. Additionally, a systematic review in India concluded that poor academic achievement causes significant stress to the parents and low self-esteem to the students [8]. It is also significantly associated with high anxiety scores among university students in Pakistan [3]. Further, in public schools in Pakistan, academic failure affects self-concept and leads to a feeling of disturbance and shock. In this way, students finally drop out of the education system at all [9].

Beyond the quality of schools, various personal and family factors, including socioeconomic factors, English ability, class attendance, employment, high school grades, and academic self-efficacy have been proposed to influence academic performance. Besides, other factors, i.e., teaching skills, study hours, family size, and parental involvement have an association with academic performance as well [2, 10]. A cohort study among university students in Australia concluded that aging does not impede academic achievement [11]. A secondary data analysis among fifth-grade students in Colorado showed that eating breakfast, normal body mass index, adequate sleep, and ≥ 5 days’ physical activity per week was significantly associated with higher cumulative grades [12]. A significant association was also found between joining the medical profession and good academic performance in Pakistan [13]. At Arba Minch University, students with a good academic record before campus entry were more likely to have academic success in higher education programs [7]. A descriptive study on Bahir Dar university students showed that the education status of parents and attending night club affect academic performance [14]. Also, a survey in Nigerian high schools indicated students whose parents were government employees achieved better performance [15]. However, the impact of these factors varies from region to region and differs in cities and rural areas. This might be due to diverse data measurement methods and quality or the context of each study.

One of the critical barriers to academic success is substance use. A cross-sectional study in the US among high school seniors showed that substance users had greater odds of skipping school and having low grades [16]. Similarly, a descriptive survey among primary school students in Jordan indicated that smoking affects children’s physical and mental development and reduces academic achievement. Smoking was considered a barrier to optimal learning [17]. A cross-sectional study among university students in Wolaita Sodo found that substance use (smoking, khat chewing, drinking alcohol, and having an intimate friend who uses substances) was significantly and negatively associated with students’ academic performance [18]. In Jordan Primary school students, smoking was more likely to impair cognitive development, and decrease attentiveness and memory. This in turn leads to difficulty in remembering information and verbal learning impairment [17].

Most of the previous studies focus on primary and secondary education levels and the problem is not well addressed at the university level. The poor performance of university students requests attention. Moreover, in Ethiopia, limited studies were done on this topic and it was complicated by confounding factors. Thus, this study intended to identify the predictors of academic performance among university students in Southern Ethiopia.

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