December 18, 2014
Mesalands Community College recently reported a 32 percent overall graduation rate to the U.S. Department of Education. This is more than 50 percent higher than the national graduation rate of public 2-year institutions of 21.1 percent, for the 2010 cohort. The graduation rate cohort includes all full-time, first-time degree/certificate seeking undergraduate students, who began their college education in the fall of 2010 and their completion status in the fall of 2013. This data was recently published in the November 2014 “Graduation Rates for Selected Cohorts, 2005-10; and Student Financial Aid in Postsecondary Institutions, Academic Year 2012-13” document by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
For the 2010 cohort, Mesalands reported a 47 percent retention rate for full-time students and a 27 percent retention rate for part-time students. Retention rates are measured by the number of students that continue their education from the fall of their first enrolled semester, to the following fall. For the 2012-13 academic year, Mesalands awarded 74 associate’s degrees, 10 certificates of at least one year, and 149 certificates of less than one year.
Dr. Thomas W. Newsom, President of Mesalands Community College, says that the entire College staff is involved in recruiting, retaining, and graduating students.
“We use these important enrollment metrics to measure student growth, affordability, and ultimately student success. We are fortunate that the entire College, including faculty and staff are also focused on these outcomes for our students,” Dr. Newsom said. “We are very proud of our 32 percent graduation rate and will continue to improve these rates, because graduation is the key to student success.”