National Student Clearinghouse

Student success is central to Lenoir Community College’s mission. Graduation rates are one indicator of student success regularly evaluated by our institution. The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) tracks student cohorts and reports their progress as six-year completion/graduation rates. NSC completion rate data is available for LCC students beginning with LCC’s Fall 2013 cohort. LCC’s Performance Improvement Committee meets annually to review the aggregate and disaggregated NSC data, identify goals, and evaluate outcomes related to the institution’s NSC completion rates.

Lenoir Community College’s six-year completion rates routinely exceed the National Two-Year Public and North Carolina Two-Year Public Benchmarks published by the National Student Clearinghouse.

Table 1

Lenoir Community College Six-Year Completion Rates and Benchmarks
Cohort Lenoir CC
Completion Rate		 National Two-Year
Public Benchmark		 North Carolina Two-Year
Public Benchmark
Fall 2013 41.42% 40.76% 42.1%
Fall 2014 43.13% 40.28% 42.40%
Fall 2015 47.97% 42.17% 46.30%
Fall 2016 57.74% 43.08% 47.80%
Fall 2017 56.24% 43.45% 49.40%

Threshold of Acceptability and Target Completion Rate

To ensure continuous improvement of student achievement outcomes, Lenoir Community College establishes thresholds of acceptability and targets for NSC completion rates. These thresholds and targets are updated annually by the Performance Improvement Committee to reflect new NSC data releases.

The threshold of acceptability for the Fall 2018 cohort is 49.3%. The College expects the Fall 2018 cohort to meet or exceed this completion rate. The threshold is annually recalculated by averaging the College’s NSC completion rates. Using the average score as the threshold allows the College to monitor completion rate trends. The Performance Improvement Committee creates action plans when observed completion rates fall below the threshold of acceptability for two consecutive reporting years.

The target completion rate for the Fall 2018 cohort is 55.95%. This rate is one standard deviation above LCC’s observed completion rate average. The methodology for establishing target completion rates is consistent with the North Carolina Community College System method of identifying “excellence level” performance at one standard deviation above the mean.

Table 2 details the thresholds of acceptability, target completion rates, and observed completion rates of Lenoir Community College’s Fall 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 cohorts. The table below compares LCC’s recent results with these performance levels.

Table 2
Lenoir Community College Thresholds of Acceptability, Target Completion Rates, and Observed Completion Rates

Cohort Threshold of Acceptability Target Completion Rate Observed Completion Rate
Fall 2013 41.42%
Fall 2014 41.42% 41.42% 43.13%
Fall 2015 42.28% 43.13% 47.97%
Fall 2016 44.17% 46.95% 57.74%
Fall 2017 47.57% 53.91% 56.24
Fall 2018 49.30% 55.95%

More detailed information regarding LCC’s completion rates, including rates disaggregated by enrollment intensity, age, gender, and race/ethnicity, is available via these links:

CONNECT WITH US

Dr. Nikki Proctor
Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Online College
Administration (Building 003)
Room 121K
Phone: (252) 527-6223, ext. 319
Fax: (252) 233-6879
Email: knproctor66@lenoircc.edu

Susan Nobles
Research Coordinator
Administration (Building 003)
Room 121L
Phone: (252) 527-6223, ext. 321
Fax: (252) 233-6879
Email: sbnobles58@lenoircc.edu