[image 1]Be Your Best! Exceed Your Goals!Reach Milestones!
These are just a few of the messages that have been circulating around campus for the past month as part of the new marketing campaign for degree completion. You may have seen them on the Web, posters, TV monitors or brochures. This is the second campaign in our effort to improve understanding of the value of an associate degree and to get more students to apply for completion.
Last year, we awarded 1,352 associate degrees and certificates, an improvement of 119 percent from 2008 in our strategic objective to increase the number of degrees and certificates awarded. A lot more work still needs to be done to reach our 2015 goal of 25 percent for our three-year graduation rate for full-time, first time in college students. The latest available state data for the 2009 first time in college cohort shows that our graduation rate for students completing within three years is at 14.4 percent. This is up from 10.5 percent four years prior. Four- and six-year graduation rates are higher with over 20 percent achieving graduation within six years.
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One way you can get involved right now is to encourage students who have earned 45 or more college-level credit hours to see an advisor who will review the student’s degree program and determine if he/she is ready for completion. Some students miss this process and move on to another institution without earning a degree. Without an associate degree or certificate, students may have more obstacles to overcome when transferring to a four-year institution.
You may have seen the data from the U.S. Census Bureau which says that students earn 19 percent more with an associate degree than with a high school diploma. Also, compared to high school graduates, having an associate degree increases a student’s career options and access to positions with benefits like health insurance and pension plans.
Students who want to participate in the ceremony in May and want their diploma to say they graduated in May or the summer need to visit with an advisor by March 18 so that we can review their degree and process the paperwork. Students may graduate in May, summer or December, but if students want to be a part of the spring graduation ceremonies, they must get their degree reviewed by March 18.
If you want to learn more about the steps students need to take toward completion, so that you can help inform a student, please review our webpages at www.GetYourDegreeAtNVC.com.