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FacebookHenderson college’s grad rate disappoints
Nevada State College, new kid on block, prone to transfers, dropouts
Sat, Jul 5, 2008 (2 a.m.)
Of 63 full-time freshmen who began studying at Nevada State College in fall 2002, the school’s inaugural semester, just 10 had graduated from the institution as of spring, according to the college.
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- NSC president wins contract extension (4-10-2008)
- UNLV tries to deal with low graduation rates (1-28-2005)
Beyond the Sun
If no more finish over summer, Nevada’s newest public college will report a six-year graduation rate of just less than 16 percent — one-third of what California’s public state colleges achieve.
“It’s low,” President Fred Maryanski said. “I wish it were higher.”
Graduation rates are not the only measure of success, but often they are considered one of the most important for schools, such as NSC, that grant bachelor’s degrees.
“We’re dealing with state money here, and we need to produce graduates,” said Steve Sisolak, a member of the Board of Regents, which governs higher education in Nevada.
NSC officials, however, are unsure how accurate their graduation data are. They said their reported rate might be off because of poor record-keeping. For example, some students attending the school in its earliest years might have been classified incorrectly as freshmen when they were actually transfers, or vice versa.
Still, officials describe the rate as representative of graduation patterns.
Sandra Elman, president of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, the agency handling NSC’s application for accreditation, said a low graduation rate does not automatically mean a school is performing poorly.
“If you have an institution, an urban institution with perhaps first-generation students, a diverse student population, a working student population, there may be a whole host of factors that would contribute to a low graduation rate,” she said. “And it doesn’t necessarily mean that either the institution is not fulfilling its mission and goals, or that the students are not succeeding.”
Elman said that from her perspective, NSC “is progressing along on a very positive and constructive path.”
Half of NSC freshmen and seniors who responded to the 2007 National Survey of Student Engagement worked off campus more than 20 hours a week.
Most of the school’s students attend part time and thus take longer to earn degrees.
Howard Rosenberg, regents vice chairman and University of Nevada, Reno, professor, said if students are unwilling to put in enough effort to complete their coursework, they — and not colleges — are the culprits in their failure to graduate.
“I don’t view graduation rates as a problem anywhere unless I am not offering the classes that they need to graduate,” he said.
A dearth of classes in some fields in earlier years might have contributed to low graduation rates, NSC spokesman Spencer Stewart said.
Rosenberg sees that as a problem. But a young institution with a tight budget and a small staff needs time to build programs, he said, pointing out that even at older schools, students complain they can’t find classes they need.
Five of the full-time freshmen who entered NSC in fall 2002 are still enrolled. Thirty-two transferred. Three graduated from other four-year schools, and four earned degrees from two-year institutions.
NSC staff interviewed dropouts in 2007 and found that many had left because they could no longer afford college, Stewart said. But 83 percent said they were “very likely” to continue pursuing a bachelor’s degree within five years.
Some NSC students discover they are interested in majors the college does not offer, Stewart said. Others leave Nevada or transfer to UNLV.
“The student population is very transient ... We found that students viewed Nevada State College as a steppingstone,” Stewart said.
But NSC was not meant to act as a community college, preparing students to pursue an education elsewhere. A 2001 report supporting establishment of the new school said Nevada needed a state college to produce more college graduates.
“Increasing baccalaureate degree production is a systemwide objective of the Board of Regents,” stated the report by a committee the Legislature created to assess the need for a new college. “The establishment of a four-year institution with a major emphasis on baccalaureate education may be the best alternative to increase baccalaureate degree production.”
Dan Klaich, executive vice chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, said graduation rates should factor into regents’ evaluations of college presidents.
“It’s fair to look at the institution and say, ‘Look, your job is to ensure that these students make reasonable progress toward a degree. And you are getting money from the state to do that. Do your job,’ ” he said.
NSC has launched programs that Maryanski hopes will boost graduation rates.
Over the past two years, the school has worked to pair every upper-level student with a faculty mentor who can provide academic and career advice.
NSC began providing financial aid services to students directly last year, taking over from UNR, which had been handling those services for the young school.
The college is implementing an “early alert” program, which requires staff to contact struggling students to learn more about why they are doing poorly in class and to offer assistance.
And consultants will visit this summer to make recommendations on improving retention.
Though only 10 students from NSC’s first full-time freshman class had graduated from the college as of spring, the school has conferred 586 degrees since its inception, with many going to transfer students.
Still, the six-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time freshmen is a barometer that prospective students and some college ranking systems use to measure a school’s success.
The California State University system graduates more than 45 percent of its freshmen within six years, a higher percentage than UNLV. The system’s newest campus, at Channel Islands, began accepting freshmen in 2003 and graduated 25 percent of them within four years.
At NSC, graduation data for one small freshman class might not say much. But figures the school provided for freshmen entering in later years do not inspire much confidence. Of 54 who started in fall 2003, six have graduated from NSC. Of 76 who began in fall 2004, just two have earned degrees from the college.
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I think it's time to close this BoonDoggle. This college will NEVER produce the graduates that are needed for CCSD and the health system of southern Nevada.
This article is patently unfair. NSC has graduated _hundreds_ of students. Being a new school such a new school that has only recently developed many of its programs, it is natural that a majority of its students will be transfers. Show me another a new school that has done any better. Beyond that NSC provides a much cheaper and better bargain for students than any of other four year schools. NSC gives students more actual face time with actual professors than UNLV will every hope to and has a dedicated staff and faculty who go way beyond anything you'll find an the Impersonal University of Nevada Las Vegas. Shame on the Sun!
I agree with Zeddy Bear! Just do the math, in five years only 10 of the original 63, but how many in between have been lost. Also remember we are paying one quater of million dollars plus housing and car allownces ($250,000.00 + $ 23,000)for a President of a College, plus slaries for 4 Deans, one Provost (also in the hundreds of dollars), etc... Just do the math how much is costing us to graduate the miger number students they are producing or not..
It's like so many things Nevada tries to do "on the cheap." Unless and until a voting majority of Nevada residents view taxes as their own personal investment in the state's prosperity, Nevada will continue to be bottom-feeder state.
This is not an argument for waste or fat cats. It's a call for Nevadans to realize California tourists are't going to put our kids through school and Far Eastern High Rollers aren't on the hook for building our freeways.
You are sadly leaving out crucial information regarding NSC and it's graduation rates. When NSC opened in 2002 with only 177 students, it hardly had a fraction of the academic programs, student services, outstanding faculty and staff, or facilities it has today. NSC was housed in an old warehouse which still had “watch for forklift” signs printed on it’s floor. NSC’s course offers were so slim they were printed on a single piece of paper. NSC was housed in a single building so tiny it only consisted of 4 classrooms, several faculty offices, and a few vending machines. To make matters worse, in the spring of 2003 NSC was viciously attacked by legislatures, newspapers (particularly the SUN), and other higher-ed institutions making the NSC family frightened that they would be shut down. What student in these circumstances wouldn’t consider transferring to a more “stable” college? Fast forward 6 years later, NSC has grown beyond anyone’s expectations to now having 4 buildings, a variety of competitive academic programs, astonishingly qualified faculty, student services, and well over 177 students. Despite the lack of support from some state legislatures and newspapers such as this one, NSC has become a college and is not going anywhere. I hope one day you will stop debating whether or not NSC is here to stay, and accept and support it.
I am 1 of the 10 students who enrolled at NSC as a freshman in 2002 and have since graduated. After our rocky first year as a college, I too considered transferring elsewhere. I did NOT want to transfer because of the NSC academic experience (as far as I am concerned, my academic experience exceeded most of my peers at other institutions), but due to the college’s portrayed instability as highlighted on such newspapers as this one. I am glad I did not transfer out of NSC as I largely benefited from the college and it’s programs. I am currently a graduate student in a PhD program. It is not always about quantity. In the case of NSC, it’s about quality.
~A NSC Graduate
Remember the political slogan:
"it's the economy stupid!" in this case:
It is Retention .......! and It is offering the right courses so we current students can graduate when we plan and need to graduate. JStraw is one of the lucky 10 out of 63 first enrollees. Well many more ( in hundrends and now thousands) have follow and as we plan for graduation we do not have enough classes to graduate!!!
Yes, there might be very good faculty, but not enough to get us through. And yes, they have more places to meet and grandiose dreams for a state of the art new buildings mixing private and public deals, but that does not matter if administrators do not plan expedicious ways for us to graduate. They must be smart to be getting that much money, but how hard could it be to hire the teachers we need for the programs they are offering to us so we could be as lucky as jstraw. "Wishing" to have higher graduate rates does not make it happend, one has to plan and work at making it happen! What does this president of this college do every day to earn so much money? He is not producing the one thing he needs to do, educate and graduate the proffessionals Nevada needs.
NSC's 4-year graduation rate won't improve until more of its student body can afford to attend school full-time. That requires a lot more money for scholarships (not loans) and work-study. Dormitories and full-scale food service would also be helpful. None of this will happen until money - from both public and private sources - is *poured* into this institution. And until it is, Nevadans will not have access to a full range of choices in public higher education. Every Nevadan who cares about this has a duty to advocate for NSC on all fronts. Human beings or troglodytes? It is up to the people of Nevada.
Here here, DavidMorgan!
I hear NSC is opening new science building this fall and is adding top notch faculty that will improve educational opporturnities in biological sciences. School is on the rise. Give it time.
I started at Nevada State College in the Fall of 2005 semester and my goal is to be done by next spring. It is true that they have to start offering certain classes more often. I took five classes last semester which were all going towards my major requirements because most of them would not be offered for probably another two years! This upcoming semester, I may have to take 2 classes at CSN because NSC will not offer them for a little while. Still, even with this issue,I DO NOT REGRET GOING TO NSC. It has been quite an experience. I have met some really nice faculty who have always helped me when I needed it. I like the smaller class sizes and would not have wanted to be in a class of like fifty or more people. A brand new state of the art Science building is opening in a couple of weeks and I am happy that I will get at least two semesters in it. I do look forward to graduating and receiving my diploma which will say that I graduated from Nevada State College.