What is Student Right-To-Know?

Student Right-To-Know is a federal law that requires all colleges and universities to disclose certain information to students. This handout provides the information that a college must provide to students on graduation rates and transfer-out rates for full-time students seeking degrees at Lake Superior College (LSC).

What is a graduation rate and what is a transfer-out rate? 

Federal regulations specify how to calculate the graduation and transfer rates. The rates come from a study of LSC students who started at the college in the fall of 2019. The study includes all first-time students who enrolled full-time that fall and were seeking to earn a degree, diploma or certificate at the college. The graduation rate is the percentage of these students who graduated from LSC within three years. The transfer-out rate is the percentage of these students who did not graduate from LSC, but instead transferred to another college or university within three years.

What do I need to know about these rates?

These rates do not report on all students at LSC. The 454 first-time, full-time students in the study were 9 percent of all students enrolled at LSC in fall of 2019.

What are the graduation and transfer-out rates for LSC students and how do they compare to rates for other colleges?

  • The graduation rate for LSC was 35 percent.
  • The transfer-out rate for LSC was 19 percent.
  • The combination of the graduation rate and the transfer-out rate for LSC was 53 percent. The national average combined rate for similar colleges was 44 percent.

Why don’t more LSC students graduate or transfer in three years?

  • Since Lake Superior College has an “open door” mission, many new students need to take “developmental” courses to improve their reading, writing or math skills before taking other college courses;
  • Students who switch from full-time to part-time enrollment or “stop out” for one or more semesters are more likely to take more than three years to graduate;
  • Some students take jobs before they graduate;
  • Other students delay their education for personal, family or financial reasons.
Disaggregated Student Right-to-Know Graduation and Transfer-out Rates
Lake Superior College Graduation Rate Transfer-out Rate Combined Rate
Total Cohort 34% 19% 53%
Race Ethnicity
American Indian or Alaska Native * * *
Asian * * *
Black or African American * * *
Hispanic of any race 23% 23% 45%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander * * *
Nonresident Alien * * *
Two or more races 25% 13% 38%
Unknown race and ethnicity * * *
White 36% 18% 55%
Gender
Female 32% 27% 58%
Male 36% 14% 50%
Financial Aid
Pell Grant Recipient 28% 21% 49%
Received neither Pell nor Subsidized Stafford Loans 40% 16% 56%
Received Subsidized Stafford Loans, but no Pell 32% 26% 58%

*Suppressed to protect student privacy.

Due to rounding, percentages may not always appear to add up.

Students in many programs must pass licensing or credentialing exams to qualify for employment in their fields or be competitive in the job market.

Link:

LSC – Licensure Pass Rates by Program

In accordance with Minnesota State board policy, each year Lake Superior College surveys its most recent graduates one year after graduation.  The survey determines whether graduates are available for employment and whether they are employed in a field related to their studies.

Each year, updated graduate placement data is posted as soon as the results of the most recent survey are available. However, due to the methodology, results can lag graduation by 2-3 years.

The most recent survey results indicate that 87% of the 2022 graduates available for employment found jobs related to their educational program within one year of graduation. See Status of Graduates Summary below for additional detail.

Links:

LSC Data – Status of Graduates Summary
Minnesota State Policy – Graduate Follow-up Survey

The LSC College-Wide Learning Outcomes describe the knowledge, skills, and responsibilities that students should acquire as a result of their studies at LSC.  The outcomes are organized into three sections:

1.     Professional and Personal Responsibilities, including:

Professional demeanor
Initiative and accountability
Adherence to organizational expectations
Self-development and lifelong learning

Demonstrated through appropriate behaviors

2.     Foundational Knowledge of the Intellectual, Social, and Natural World, through study in:

Career-focused programs
Liberal arts
Sciences

Focused by engagement with discipline-specific questions, both contemporary and enduring

3.      Intellectual and Practical Skills, including

Critical and creative thinking
Information literacy
Inquiry and analysis
Quantitative literacy
Synthesis and application
Teamwork and problem solving
Written and oral communication

Practiced extensively, across the curriculum, in the context of progressively more challenging problems, projects, and standards for performance

4.      Social Responsibilities, including

Awareness and practice of sustainability
Civic involvement
Ethical reasoning and action
Intercultural competence

Anchored through active involvement with diverse communities and real-world challenges.

Links:

LSC – College-Wide Outcomes Poster

For each fall full-time entering student cohort, retention and success rates are tracked over multiple academic terms. The Retention Rate represents the percentage of returning students, while the Success Rate reflects students who were retained, graduated, or transferred.

Fall Entering Full-Time Student Retention Rates
Entering Term Headcount 1st Spring 2nd Fall 2nd Spring 3rd Fall 3rd Spring 4th Fall
Fall 2022 531 82%          
Fall 2021 568 75% 48% 40%      
Fall 2020 572 76% 45% 35% * 8%  
Fall 2019 669 83% 51% 41% 19% 14% 6%
Fall 2018 701 81% 52% 42% 17% 12% 8%
Fall 2017 665 78% 51% 42% 19% 12% 6%

*Suppressed by Power BI Report. Retention rate is between and 10.9% and 11.9%

Fall Entering Full-Time Student Success Rates
Entering Term Headcount 1st Spring 2nd Fall 2nd Spring 3rd Fall 3rd Spring 4th Fall
Fall 2022 531 85%          
Fall 2021 568 80% 68% 64%      
Fall 2020 572 81% 70% 66% 63% 63%  
Fall 2019 669 87% 68% 64% 63% 63% 63%
Fall 2018 701 85% 73% 67% 65% 63% 66%
Fall 2017 665 84% 73% 70% 66% 65% 65%

Success Rate is based on Retention, Transfer, and Graduation combined