By Nita McCann

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ – Mississippi has the fourth-highest rate of community college students completing degrees, according to a nationwide study.

Each year, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center releases the results of an annual study about the rate of students completing degrees.

Statewide, 46 percent of full-time students earn their community college degrees.  The national rate is 39 percent.

The study does not break down the figures by institution, but last year, the success rate at Copiah-Lincoln Community College was 56.3 percent.

Co-Lin President Ronnie Nettles  said comparing that figure with the national study is like comparing apples to oranges.

“The national study only looks at students who transfer to other states, whereas Mississippi also figures in students who transfer in state,” he said. “A student who leaves us after one year and goes to another college, for example, is not a dropout.”

Nettles said Co-Lin’s success is nothing new. Co-Lin routinely beats the state average success rate by about two or three percentage points, he said.

There are many reasons for that, Nettles added.

“A statewide initiative to boost degree completion rates started five years ago,” Nettles said. “It was in response to falling completion rates around the world.”

Reasons students do not complete degrees include changes in job status and family situations as well as funding and financial aid running out, he noted.

He also said Co-Lin has made changes big and small to boost the number of students graduating.

Those have ranged from focusing student counseling on completion, eliminating their graduation fee and bringing their degree requirements more in line with other colleges.

“Now it only takes 62 credit hours to graduate versus 64 credit hours before,” Nettles said. “Things like fees might not seem like a big thing, but they are for some students.”

The state’s figures include not only students completing a two-year associate’s degree, but one-year technical certificates for trades such as welding and mechanics.

“All Mississippi community colleges have made a strong commitment to help our students complete their degrees,” said Dr. Eric Clark, executive director of the Mississippi Community College Board.

He added the nationwide study “shows that students who start their higher education at one of our state’s community colleges do better than the national average when it comes to finishing their degrees.”

“These numbers are important because those with college degrees have a big economic impact and get better jobs and salaries than those who do not,” Nettles said.