Graduation and Transfer-Out Rates

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 the graduation rate and what is the 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 2018. 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 676 first-time, full-time students in the study were 13 percent of all students enrolled at RCTC in fall of 2018.

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 27%.
  • The transfer-out rate for RCTC was 24%.
  • The combination of the graduation rate and the transfer-out rate for RCTC was 51%. The national average combined rate for similar colleges was 56%.

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 Cohort 27% 24% 51%
Gender
   Men 25% 23% 48%
   Women 31% 24% 55%
Race/Ethnicity
   Hispanic of any race 16% 31% 47%
   American Indian or Alaska Native * * *
   Asian 18% * 18%
   Black or African American 15% 31% 46%
   Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander * * *
   White 34% 21% 55%
   Two or more races 12% 32% 44%
   Nonresident Alien * * *
   Race and ethnicity unknown * * *
Notes:
Students of Color Include: Hispanic/Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, Two or more races students
* Suppressed to protect student privacy. Due to rounding, percentages may not appear to add up.
Financial Aid Graduation Rate
   Pell Grant Recipient 23%
   Received neither Pell nor Subsidized Stafford Loans 34%
   Received Subsidized Stafford Loans, but no Pell 26%

Prepared by: RCTC Institutional Research