Rough Around the Edge(combe): Transition and Retention

It is no secret that community colleges struggle to retain students; due to the age and family life of these students, many cannot complete an associate's degree within the two year time frame most colleges encourage.  The data related to grade point average, persistence, and graduation all support that 1) students need an associate's degree in order to be successful, and 2) transfer students need at least 3 years to finish a bachelor's degree.

As of 2015, only 54 students transferred to a UNC school from Edgecombe Community College; this number is low when compared to a similarly-sized Nash Community College, which transfers 86.  However, those that do transfer boast a 2.76 GPA with an associate's degree and a 2.58 with half the credit hours, both of which are comparable to the 2.70 average of all NCCCS graduates. English class GPAs are 2.69, also comparable to other NCCCS grads, but math is the true struggle for these students; the average GPA is a 1.81, meanwhile transfers with half the credit hours faired even worse at 1.21.  Only 68% of ECC students had a GPA of a 2.0 of higher at the end of their first transfer year.  However, these students are persistent as the average number of credit hours dropped is 1.6, compared to 4.3 for other NCCCS students.

Graduation from a UNC system school by ECC graduates is low at 22%; ECU had the lowest with 18% of students attending being able to graduate.  Native juniors graduate at a rate much higher -- 58%.  Those with technical degrees fair just as poorly at 17%.  However, this cohort studied (2010 graduates) experienced the LOWEST 2 year graduation rates in five years; graduation rates fell 50%. Persistence to obtain the degree, however, is at its highest at 72% and has been for the past four years.

Even though the students are struggling to graduate, they still continue to enroll in coursework, but simply take longer to complete the degree.  This trend makes sense; community college students have families and many work full-time.  With these types of barriers, lawmakers should understand that it matters less when they graduate, but that they are able to graduate with an employable set of skills.