Higher education institutions faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting student academic performance and retention rates. This study examines the academic performance of 1650 undergraduate engineering students from a well-established university in the United Arab Emirates, analyzing performance trends during and after the pandemic using RapidMiner and Power BI. The study investigates two key research questions. First, it explores how CGPA fluctuations during and after COVID-19 affected probation rates across different majors. The findings reveal a decline in average CGPA from 2.94 during the first pandemic semester to 2.81 in the final analyzed term, highlighting the difficulties students faced in transitioning back to in-person education. Additionally, 87.6% of students who were on probation during the pandemic remained on probation post-pandemic, underscoring the long-term academic struggles and the need for targeted interventions. The second research question examines the correlation between high school grades and CGPA across different performance categories. A clustering analysis identified three distinct groups: high performers (16.97%) with CGPAs above 3.5, medium performers (80.24%) with CGPAs between 2.0 and 3.5, and low performers (2.79%) with CGPAs below 2.0. The findings indicate that prior academic achievement does not always predict university success, emphasizing the necessity for personalized academic support to assist struggling students. These results provide critical insights into the resilience of higher education systems and the long-term impact of the pandemic on student outcomes. The study highlights the importance of data-driven interventions, structured support programs, and hybrid learning models to enhance student performance in future disruptions.