Academic Affairs

HCC ranks number one in state for student persistence rate

Hagerstown Community College ranked number one of Maryland’s 16 community colleges for the four-year successful-persister rate, based on the 2022 Performance Accountability Report from the Maryland Higher Education Commission. This represents a broad measure of persistence that captures the multiple ways students are displaying success at a community college.

HCC’s top rate of 83.1 percent shows the percentage of students in a given cohort who have completed at least 30 credit hours with a grade point average of 2.00 or better, have graduated or transferred, or are still enrolled at HCC four years after their initial enrollment. This data is based on a group of students who started in the fall of 2017.

According to Dave Warner, HCC vice president of academic affairs and student services, significant efforts have been made in recent years to address the success of HCC students, especially those in development education courses. These are courses which are designed to develop the reading, writing or math skills of students who have been assessed, through standardized tests, to be underprepared for college-level courses.

In the past, HCC, like most other schools offered different development educational classes for English and math, but the rates of success for those who were able to complete them and move to college-level courses were low.

“Several years ago, I became aware of a national movement to revise the developmental education courses into one course, through ALP, an accelerated learning program,” said Warner. “We have been able to develop a single, combined course that allows students to complete the developmental course work and the college-level coursework simultaneously, rather than having to do so over multiple semesters.”

Warner stated that this approach has been most successful for the packaged English course, a single, six-credit course which combines developmental and college-level work into one course. For math students who need developmental education, HCC now offers two different levels of math courses – one that is algebra based for majors that require higher level math, and another that is non-algebra based, for majors that don’t require higher level math.

“These changes have been game changers for students who come to us in need of developmental, or remedial, education. The success rates have been phenomenal,” Warner added.

HCC recently changed the requirements for placement testing of new students. In the past, all incoming students had to be tested for admission into college credit courses. Now, students who have a 3.0 GPA from high school are no longer required to take the standardized placement tests.

In addition to these curricular changes, officials at HCC recently redesigned the college advising model to focus more heavily on retention of current students. Emphasis has been placed on identifying and assisting students whose grades are suffering and who are missing class regularly.

“There are a number of factors that influence students’ abilities to be successful in completing their educational goals,” Warner said. “By identifying those at risk of dropping out, and offering assistance early and often, we can collectively help more students succeed.”

(March 30, 2023)