Student Right-To-Know Graduation & 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 Northland Community and Technical College.

What is a graduation rate and what is a transfer-out rate?

Federal regulations specify how to calculate the graduation and transfer rates. The rates come from a study of Northland students who started at the college in the fall of 2005. 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 Northland within three years. The transfer-out rate is the percentage of these students who did not graduate from Northland, 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 Northland. The 525 first-time, full-time students in the study were about 14 percent of all students enrolled in fall of 2005.

What are the graduation and transfer-out rates for Northland students and how do they compare to rates for other colleges?

• The graduation rate for Northland was 33 percent.
• The transfer-out rate for Northland was 16 percent.
• The combination of the graduation rate and the transfer-out rate for Northland was 49 percent. The national average combined rate for similar colleges was 41 percent.

Why don't more Northland students graduate or transfer in three years?

• Since Northland 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.

Data Results

• Fall 1996 to Fall 2005 First-time, Full-time, Degree-seeking Students