L&C Focuses on Student Success and Outperforms Peer Institutions

GODFREY – Lewis and Clark Community College offers a mosaic of services that have helped to increase student success, which is defined by retention and graduation rates. In fact, L&C’s graduation rate for first-time, full-time students has increased 95 percent in the past 10 years.

“A postsecondary credential is one of the most consequential financial investments many learners will ever make,” said Vice President of Academic Affairs Linda T. Chapman.

“Rising costs of college and the reliance of employers on credentials such as industry-recognized certifications and graduation make credentials more important than ever.”

The college is also outperforming it peers. In 2017, L&C’s average full-time retention rate was 66 percent, while the average retention rate for peer institutions was 58 percent. L&C’s average graduation rate was 39 percent in 2017. That’s 11 percentage points more than peer institutions, which had an average graduation rate of 28 percent that year.

“Lewis and Clark has embraced data analytics as a core component of its retention strategy,” said Director of Institutional Research and Library Services Dennis Krieb. “In addition to understanding the impact of a specific service such as tutoring or using the library on grades, we communicate this information back to our faculty, student services personnel, and students. We believe this sharing of data has played a significant part in L&C’s retention and completion rates being higher than those of peer institutions.”

The services leading to the increase in L&C student success include library instruction offerings, a variety of tutoring services and emergency loan and grant assistance.

“This mosaic of services provides the safety net that most college students need in order to be able to stay in school and reach the ultimate goal of graduating and going to work or graduating and transferring to a four-year university,” said Dean of Transfer Programs Jill Lane.

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