SACSCOC Institutional Obligations for Public Disclosure
The linked documents below contain Dalton State College’s public disclosure of its goals for student achievement and student success in reaching those goals:
Student Achievement Data
Core Requirement 8.1 of the Principles of Accreditation: Foundation for Quality Enhancement, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) states,
“The institution identifies, evaluates, and publishes goals and outcomes for student achievement appropriate to the institution’s mission, the nature of the students it serves, and the kinds of programs offered. The institution uses multiple measures to document student success.”
Dalton State College has selected the five measures listed below, with the National Student Clearinghouse Total Completions Rate having been identified as the Key Student Completion Indicator for SACSCOC reporting. For each measure, the College has identified the rationale for inclusion, recent performance, a target for the next year, and a longer-term goal, along with some additional explanations.
National Student Clearinghouse Total Completions Rate
The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Total Completions Rate (TCR) is compiled by the NSC and reflects the proportion of all students who begin at Dalton State College in a particular fall term and complete any college credential at any institution within six years.The definition of the cohort is distinct from other cohort definitions, such as those used for IPEDS reporting. While the TCR includes information about the students who appear in traditional graduation rate metrics, who initially enroll full-time and graduate at their initially-enrolled degree level from their initially-enrolled institution, the TCR also includes information about students who initially enroll part-time, switch between degree levels without first obtaining a degree at their initially-enrolled level, and/or transfer out of the institution and earn a credential at another institution. Dalton State College offers three different levels of undergraduate credentials with its certificate, associate, and baccalaureate programs, so students switching between degree levels is a regular occurrence. Additionally, Dalton State College maintains several associate degree transfer pathways within its AA General Studies and AS General Studies programs, with students frequently moving into our own baccalaureate programs or transferring to other institutions before completing the associate credential. As such, Dalton State believes that the Total Completions Rate best captures how well it is achieving its mission to provide “opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to attain affordable baccalaureate degrees, associate degrees and certificates and to reach their personal and professional goals.”
Recent Performance
| Cohort | Fall 2013 | Fall 2014 | Fall 2015 | Fall 2016 | Fall 2017 | Fall 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 44.58% | 48.34% | 45.95% | 42.88% | 46.01% | |
| Target | 44.5% | 44.0% | 43.8% |
Three-Year Associate Graduation Rate
As an associate-degree granting institution, Dalton State College tracks its three-year graduation rate for its associate-seeking cohorts following IPEDS definitions (first-time full-time degree-seeking students). This reflects the proportion of all students who start their college enrollment as students at Dalton State College enrolled full-time in an associate-level degree program that complete an associate degree at Dalton State College within three years.
Recent Performance
| Cohort | Fall 2017 | Fall 2018 | Fall 2019 | Fall 2020 | Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 13.0% | 11.9% | 13.0% | 9.0% | 8.7% | |
| Target | 12.0% | 12.0% | 12.5% | 13.4% |
Particular challenges related to this metric include students transferring to other institutions or switching to DSC baccalaureate programs before earning the associates degree and students who transition into one of DSC’s selective associates programs in Health Professions, which have pre-program requirements that students must complete and strict course sequences spanning two years following entry into the program.
Retention rates of associate-seeking students in the Fall 2020 and Fall 2021 cohorts were the lowest (60-61%) since the Fall 2010 cohort, which contributed to the missed graduation targets for these cohorts. Retention rates for associate-seeking students increased slightly to 62.6% for the Fall 2022 cohort and then jumped to 70.3% for the Fall 2023 cohort, so the graduation rates for these cohorts are expected to rebound.
Six-Year Bachelor’s Graduation Rate
As a bachelor’s-degree granting institution, Dalton State College tracks its six-year graduation rate for its bachelor’s-seeking cohorts following IPEDS definitions (first-time full-time degree-seeking students). This reflects the proportion of all students who start their college enrollment as students at Dalton State College enrolled full-time in a baccalaureate-level degree program that complete a bachelor’s degree within six years.
Recent Performance
| Cohort | Fall 2014 | Fall 2015 | Fall 2016 | Fall 2017 | Fall 2018 | Fall 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 34.8% | 29.7% | 24.7% | 30.8% | 23.8% | |
| Target | 28.4% | 29.5% | 26.9% | 28.7% |
One-Year Retention Rate
Dalton State College tracks its one-year retention rates for both first-time full-time associate-seeking and first-time full-time bachelor’s seeking students, but is using the one-year retention rate for all first-time full-time degree-seeking students due to the frequency at which students switch between degree levels. This rate measures the proportion of students who enroll as first-time full-time degree-seeking students in a particular fall semester and then either enroll in the following fall semester or graduate from their degree program by the following fall semester. The latter situation is possible in one-year certificate programs or for students who were dual enrollment students and accumulated a significant number of credits before their high school graduations and thus were first-time full-time students with many already-earned credits.
Recent Performance
| Cohort | Fall 2019 | Fall 2020 | Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 67.2% | 63.9% | 63.8% | 60.7% | 70.5% | |
| Target | 64.0% | 64.5% | 65.4%/62.5% | 64.0% |
One major institutional effort intended to impact retention, tied to our Quality Enhancement Plan, began in Fall 2022 with some modifications in Fall 2023. Starting in Fall 2022, most first-time degree-seeking students were required to enroll in a one-credit Perspectives (PRSP) course as a component of the General Education curriculum. This topical course has a significant focus on critical thinking skills and faculty teaching the course are strongly encouraged to emphasize resources available to students and encourage students to take advantage of those resources. Fall 2023 saw the introduction of two activities, with one requiring students to visit their advisor and the other requiring them to visit another campus resource, where students are asked to write a reflection paper about how those visits were helpful or otherwise impacted them.
Licensure and Certification Exam Pass Rates
Licensure and certification exams play an important role in employment opportunities for graduates in education and health professions. While health professions appears in both Dalton State College’s 2020-2024 strategic plan and the University System of Georgia’s Strategic Plan 2024, staffing shortages in education and health professions are national concerns. Dalton State College wants to ensure that its graduates in these fields are prepared to succeed in their licensure and certification exams so that they can progress into associated careers.
Each program has established a benchmark, which in most cases is a minimum requirement established by a program accrediting agency or a related state agency. Several programs have higher targets or also benchmark against national and/or state pass rates which are variable on an annual basis, and all have the goal of having 100% pass rates. The fixed benchmarks for each program are listed in the second column of the table below.
Recent Performance
All percentages in this table are rounded to the nearest whole percent.
| Program and Exam | Benchmark | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CERT Licensed Practical Nursing National Council Licensure Exam – PN | 80% | 97% | 78%** | 94% | 93% | 97% |
| AAS Medical Laboratory Technology Medical Laboratory Technician Exam | 75% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| AAS Radiologic Technology American Registry of Radiologic Technologists Exam | 75% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| AAS Respiratory Therapy Therapist Multiple-Choice Exam High-Cut Pass* | 60% | 100% | 86% | 100% | 100% | |
| ASN Nursing National Council Licensure Exam – RN | 80% | 91% | 94% | 82% | 71% | 88% |
| BSEd Elementary Education Georgia Assessment for the Certification of Educators | 80% | 99% | 99% | 100% | 96% | 100% |
*A high-cut pass on the TMC Exam is required for an individual to be eligible to sit for the Clinical Simulation Exam, which must be passed to obtain Registered Respiratory Therapist status. Tracking of high-cut pass rates began in 2020.
**The COVID-19 pandemic is suspected as a significant cause for the below-threshold performance on the NCLEX-PN exam in 2020. The rebound of the scores in 2021 seems to indicate that this was a singular occurrence, but monitoring will continue
Additional Resources
- Georgia Higher Learning and Earnings
- IPEDS Reports
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reports provide annual institution-level data on Dalton State College’s student enrollment, graduation rates, student charges, program completions, faculty, staff and finances.
- State of Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement