What is Student Right-To-Know?
Student Right-To-Know is a federal law that requires all colleges and universities to disclose certain information to students. This handout provides the information that a college must provide to students on graduation rates and transfer-out rates for full-time students seeking degrees at Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC).
What is graduation rate and what is transfer-out rate?
Federal regulations specify how to calculate the graduation and transfer rates. The rates come from a study of Rochester Community and Technical College students who started at the college in the fall of 2016. The study includes all first-time students who enrolled full-time that fall and were seeking to earn a degree, diploma or certificate at the college. The graduation rate is the percentage of these students who graduated from RCTC within three years. The transfer-out rate is the percentage of these students who did not graduate from RCTC, but instead transferred to another college or university within three years.
What do I need to know about these rates?
These rates do not report on all students at Rochester Community and Technical College. The 733 first-time, full-time students in the study were 14 percent of all students enrolled at RCTC in fall of 2016.
What are the graduation and transfer-out rates for Rochester students and how do they compare to rates for other colleges?
- The graduation rate for RCTC was 26 percent.
- The transfer-out rate for RCTC was 25 percent.
- The combination of the graduation rate and the transfer-out rate for RCTC was 51 percent. The national average combined rate for similar colleges was 45 percent.
Why don’t more Rochester students graduate or transfer in three years?
- Since RCTC has an “open door” mission, many new students need to take “developmental” courses to improve their reading, writing or math skills before taking other college courses;
- Students who switch from full-time to part-time enrollment or “stop out” for one or more semesters are more likely to take more than three years to graduate;
- Some students take jobs before they graduate;
- Other students delay their education for personal, family or financial reasons.
| Disaggregated Student Right-To-Know Graduation and Transfer-Out Rates – 150% of Normal Time | |||
| Rochester Community and Technical College | Graduation Rate | Transfer-out Rate | Combined Rate |
| Total Fall 2016 Cohort | 26% | 25% | 51% |
| Gender | |||
| Men | 23% | 23% | 46% |
| Women | 29% | 27% | 56% |
| Rates by Race/Ethnicity | |||
| Hispanic of any race | 19% | 29% | 47% |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | NR | NR | NR |
| Asian | 29% | 23% | 52% |
| Black or African American | 17% | 32% | 48% |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | NR | NR | NR |
| White | 29% | 24% | 53% |
| Two or more races | 23% | 10% | 33% |
| Race and ethnicity unknown | NR | NR | NR |
| Notes: | |||
| Students of Color Includes: Hispanic/Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Two or more races students | |||
| “NR” indicates Not Reported: Suppressed to protect student privacy. Due to rounding, percentages may not always appear to add up. | |||
| Prepared by: RCTC Institutional Research | |||