First in the State: TCC Student Completion Rates

The 2010-2011 cohort of TCC students attained the highest achievement point increase of any community or technical college in the state.

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) uses achievement points to determine how colleges are progressing towards the goal of increasing student completion – which means different things to different students.

Some students attend a community or technical college to attain a certificate. Some want a transfer degree. Some want to complete pre-college work so they can attain a GED or enroll in college courses. Achievement points measure progress in basic skills, certificate and degree completion, and other areas.

TCC achieved a point gain of 1,623. The next-highest performing college, Skagit Valley, achieved a point gain of 1,150. Washington’s Student Achievement Initiative rewards schools for increasing student success, so this accomplishment translates into money for the college, and $133,086 was applied to TCC’s base budget. In an economic climate in which all state colleges are struggling to maintain state funding, that’s particularly good news for TCC.

The achievement point gain was no accident. The college recently adopted a college-wide initiative called “Pathways to Completion.” TCC examines practices from other colleges, and efforts pioneered by initiatives such as Achieving the Dream, and scales them up to reach large numbers of students.

Achieving the Dream, a national student completion initiative, has already proved its success at retaining students. When it was adopted at TCC, the fall-to-winter retention rate went up from 76.62 percent in 2006 to 82.81 percent in 2010.

TCC’s “Pathway to Completion” is designed to keep student completion numbers going up. Steps include outreach efforts that deliver personalized information to prospective students so that they can arrive on campus prepared to succeed and a Learning Network that provides extra support to students, especially in classes that have been traditional barriers to student success.

“’Completion’ is the word of the day and it will continue to be our guiding theme for the next years ahead,” said TCC President Pamela Transue. “We need to pilot innovations, measure effectiveness, and then focus on those that are both effective and extendable to most of our students. In this effort, we can learn from the experience of other colleges.”

Student engagement translates to student success, and TCC student engagement rates are going up, too. The latest survey shows student-reported levels of engagement going up in every category measured.

“At TCC, we anticipate that as student engagement increases, so will rates of student success and completion,” said Institutional Effectiveness Director Scott Marsh.