C-GCC LEADS STATE IN GRADUATION RATES
Columbia-Greene Community College leads all other state community colleges in completion rates for its graduates, according to a recent survey.
The Greenport campus is number one on a list of some 35 community colleges across the state, according to a report by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which submits its findings to the National Center for Education Statistics: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator.
C-GCC's stellar completion rate is among the criteria behind the school's recent Third Best Community College in New York State ranking by EDsmart.org that also takes into account retention and transfer rates as well as net price to attend. EDsmart uses data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
"It's a tribute to the commitment of our students and overall quality of instruction at CGCC," said Casey O'Brien, director of institutional effectiveness. "It also empowers us to focus on programs that work, such as our 'be a graduate' program, which provides personalized completion plans for students who make significant progress but drop out before earning their degree."
Criteria in the IPEDS report was based on the number of first-time, full-time students who completed their programs within the three-year period, from 2011 to 2014. C-GCC's rate for the period was 31 percent, which stands out against an average of 21 percent among all community colleges in the state.