STC Graduation Rate Data

Student Right to Know (SRTK) refers to a Federally-mandated public disclosure of a college's Completion Rate and Transfer Rate. The intent of SRTK is to provide to the consumer a statistic of comparable effectiveness that they can use in the determination of college choice. All colleges nationwide are effectively required to participate in the disclosure of rates.

SRTK is a "cohort" study; that is, a group of students who are first-time freshmen who are enrolled full-time and are degree-seeking as identified in a fall term and their outcomes are measured over a period of time. The outcomes that the two SRTK rates measure are Completion (the total number of students in the cohort who earn either a degree, a certificate, or who successfully completed a two-year-equivalent transfer-preparatory program) and Transfer (the total number of cohort non-completers who were identified as having enrolled in another institution). The tracking period of the cohorts is three (3) years, at which time the SRTK rates are calculated and made public.

SRTK Rates are derived and reported yearly on the IPEDS-GRS (Integrated Post-secondary Educational Data System-Graduation Rate Survey). The IPEDS-GRS also tracks part-time student cohorts over a six (6) year period; however, full-time cohort status after 3 years is the only basis for calculating SRTK rates.

In compliance with the federal Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990, Sandersville Technical College is reporting completion and graduation rates for a select group of students who entered in Fall Quarter 2002. This report identifies percentages of students who had completed their programs by August August 31, 2005 The student group, as specified by federal law, includes only students who were:

• Enrolled in credit classes FULL-TIME
• Entering college for the FIRST TIME and
• SEEKING A DIPLOMA or planned to transfer to a 4-year college or university

Federal law allows each student to be counted in only one of the categories below. A student who fits the definition of more than one category is counted in the top priority category. For example, a student who achieves a diploma AND transfers to a university is only counted under COMPLETION , not under TRANSFER . Definitions:

• Completion : The student completed an diploma.
• Transfer : The student transferred to another public postsecondary institution - STC's mission is not to provide preparation for transfer therefore, there are the transfer rate is not applicable to the SRTK .

* The group of students being reported to comply with federal student right-to-know regulations made up 6.5 % of the total Fall 2002 quarter enrollment at Sandersville Technical College . These rates do not represent the success rates for the other 93.5% of students who attended STC in Fall 2002. They do not include any of the students who attended part time, who enrolled full-time but had previous college experience, or who took courses only to improve job or academic skills. These rates also do not take into account students who started full-time but later enrolled part-time because of work or family commitments. They do not recognize that many technical college students may take a quarter or more off from school because of other demands. The rates also do not take into account the students who have completed programs or transferred since August 31, 2005.