There are a number of measures that are complied for us each year and comparison group data are included to provide a context for interpreting our statistics.
Using some of our college's characteristics, a group of comparison institutions was selected for us by IPEDS. The characteristics include large, public, 2-year colleges, in the midwestern states and enrollment of a similar size.
This comparison group includes the following 28 institutions:
This comparison group includes the following 28 institutions:
Butler Community College (El Dorado, KS)
Century College (White Bear Lake, MN)
City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington College (Chicago, IL)
City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S Truman College (Chicago, IL)
City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley College (Chicago, IL)
City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College (Chicago, IL)
Delta College (University Center, MI)
Elgin Community College (Elgin, IL)
Fox Valley Technical College (Appleton, WI)
Hawkeye Community College (Waterloo, IA)
Illinois Central College (East Peoria, IL)
Ivy Tech Community College-East Central (Muncie, IN)
Ivy Tech Community College-Northeast (Fort Wayne, IN)
Ivy Tech Community College-Northwest (Gary, IN)
Kalamazoo Valley Community College (Kalamazoo, MI)
Kellogg Community College (Battle Creek, MI)
Lake Land College (Mattoon, IL)
Lakeland Community College (Kirtland, OH)
Lorain County Community College (Elyria, OH)
Minneapolis Community and Technical College (Minneapolis, MN)
Normandale Community College (Bloomington, MN)
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (Green Bay, WI)
Oakton Community College (Des Plaines, IL)
Ozarks Technical Community College (Springfield, MO)
Rock Valley College (Rockford, IL)
Stark State College (North Canton, OH)
Triton College (River Grove, IL)
Waubonsee Community College (Sugar Grove, IL)
Parkland College
The Executive Peer Tool (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/) can be used to reproduce the
figures in this report using different peer groups. It is worth taking a look.
The first interesting bit of comparison data is the volume of degrees and certificates we award.
The first interesting bit of comparison data is the volume of degrees and certificates we award.
Second, and this is a big one, is our completion rate. Our combined graduation and transfer rate for 2011 was 54%. In other words, of the students that began at parkland in the fall of 2008, more than half either graduated or transferred by 2011. Our comparison group combined graduation/transfer rate was 38%.
This one speaks for itself.
The bad news is that our costs are higher than our peer group.
(20,337)
In Figure 15 our Other Core Expenses are more than double the Comparison Group Median. What kinds of things contibute to this area?
ReplyDeleteJohn: Other core expenses include auxiliary enterprises.
DeleteAt parkland, that incudes the bookstore, athletics, reprographics, prospectus, student government, business training, and the child development center.
Re Figure 10: Would the low retention number for part-time students be partially due to the large number of online classes we have? I know my online class has a lot of students who just need 1 course from Parkland.
ReplyDeleteDave, I think that may be part of it. In addition, we have so many students that are simply course enrollees, meaning they are not interested in a degree program. Often it is a course or two in a certain area (computer language, word, excel) taken out of interest or need. The result is statistic that counts against our retention metric.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we have those who enroll as degree-seekers, but achieve their career goals before claiming the degree. This is a positive outcome for such students, in my opinion, and testimony to our career programs' ability to target marketable skills. But it does reflect poorly in our completion rates. I wonder if we'll ever see a "Landed full-time employment with comfortable salary and benefits in desired career path without claiming sheepskin" bar on these charts? :-)
ReplyDelete