Student Success Metrics

Completion or transfer serves as a primary indicator of student achievement. While NSC made some progress relative to improving completion and transfer rates for Historically Underserved Students of Color (HUSOC), increasing from a baseline of 36% to a peak of 47.1% in 2018, we have not achieved the strategic plan target of 55%, indicating that NSC can still do more to meaningfully close equity gaps (see chart below).  Each respective column included below reflects cohorts defined by their year of entry (for example 2016 indicates first-time students beginning in Fall 2016).

Disaggregated Level

At a more disaggregated level, indicated in the charts below, we note that there has been progress toward closing equity gaps for some minoritized students, specifically Black/African American and Hispanic students, and older students (40+). For the remaining categories, the completion and transfer rates declined, which is consistent with the overall trend data. However, despite the declining rates of completion and transfer overall, the 2019 student cohort still mostly exceeded outcomes compared to our district peers (with the only exceptions being Black/African American students, Part-Time students, and students who Did not Receive Need Based Aid). 

We note from the chart below that the rate of completion of a college credential within four years has declined for students overall, but especially for non-Historically Underserved (Non-HU) students. NSC is also behind our regional peers in completion of college credit within four years overall. While an increase in Historically Underserved Students of Color (HUSOC) completing their college credentials within four years occurred in 2019, NSC is still a few percentage points behind regional peers in this category. Greater effort must be made if we are to see those numbers increase for non-Historically Underserved students and close the 12% gap between us and our regional peers. 

Disaggregated Level

The disaggregated data below also illustrates that we have seen a decrease in student completion of college credentials within four years for most students disaggregated by race and ethnicity, with the most substantial decrease seen in White, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Asian students, respectively. In addition, while we have seen a decrease in completion for both Male and Female students, a more substantial decrease in completion is apparent for Male students.

The Integrated Data Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classifies NSC as a four-year institution because NSC awards bachelor’s degrees. IPEDS requires that NSC report retention and graduation rates only for students enrolled in baccalaureate programs. In 2023-24 these bachelor's degrees accounted for 9% of all credentials awarded by NSC. In addition, a small share of NSC's baccalaureate students count as first-time given that these programs are designed for students that have already completed an associate degree. To generate an equivalent cohort for national peer comparison, NSC uses a subset of FTEC. Records are suppressed in categories where the number of records is less than the minimum threshold set by SBCTC for public facing data visualizations (10).

Disaggregated Level

In Fall 2020 a larger share of first-time students declined to provide their race/ethnicity, which is expected given this was the first quarter enrollment services collected student data in a fully remote environment. FTEC excludes students of unknown race/ethnicity from its disaggregation between HUSCO and Non-HU students. Further, the three-year completions of students who did not report a race/ethnicity exceeded non-HU and HUSOC students (42.9%). The trend in three-year completion indicates a gap between NSC and identified national peers, as well as persistent equity gaps. At a more disaggregated level equity gaps are persistent for Black/African American, Hispanic, and Female students.

The data below indicates that NSC is equivalent to regional peers in the percentage of students who transfer to a four-year college or university within four years. While this number decreased slightly for White/Asian (Not HU) students, there was a slight increase for Historically Underserved Students of Color (HUSOC).

Disaggregated Level

At a disaggregated level (below), data shows that a substantially higher percentage of Black/African American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students transferred to a four-year college or university in four years (in 2019) than had in in previous years (from 2016). Other race and ethnicity groups stayed mostly the same, though transfer decreased slightly for White students. North has a higher percentage of Hispanic students transferring to a four-year institution than regional peers (with a difference of approximately +8%). In addition, while North’s part-time students transfer at higher rates than part-time students at peer institutions (by a difference of approximately +8%), our full-time students do not (by a difference of approximately -9%). 

Fall to Fall and Fall to Winter retention steadily improved from the 2019 cohort onwards. Despite these overall improvements the current retention rates do not achieve the district target, are below peer institutions, and gaps by race and ethnicity continue to persist.

Disaggregated Level

At a disaggregated level (below), data shows decrease in retention for Native American/Alaska Native and Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students. Retention for other non-white race and ethnicities increased over this period, with increasing rates for Asian, Black/African American and Hispanic students.   

Completion of College Level English and Math increased from the Fall 2020 cohort, with English seeing a greater increase. However, completion of college level English and Math for HU students of color declined. These trends highlight progress but also emphasize persistent equity gaps for HU students of color, requiring targeted efforts to achieve parity and meet regional benchmarks.  Please note that completion of English in the First Year was not a metric of the 2016-23 Strategic Plan, which is why no target or baseline is provided.

Disaggregated Level

The disaggregated data below highlights varying success trends across different demographics. While there are some areas of improvement, most notably improvements for Black/African American and First-Generation students, it is evident that NSC needs to do more to improve student success. However, more work is required in order to close equity gaps. To that end NSC’s Strategic Course Committee drafted a mixed methods research project to address the following questions in English Composition and Pre-Calculus (Math 141).

1. What interventions do students most at-risk of not completing a strategic course need to succeed in the course and when should they be deployed?
2. What support do faculty teaching strategic courses with a high number of students at risk of not completing need to increase retention and completion rates in these courses?
3. What support or resources do student support services need to serve at-risk students taking strategic courses?

The committee recruited four English and two Math Faculty to participate in an initial pilot in the Spring 2025. The committee will review the findings in Summer 2025, and look to scale a larger study in the Fall of 2025.

NSC tracks employment placement using data from the Washington State Board of Community Technical Colleges (SBCTC). SBCTC submits student records to the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD), which returns wage outcomes per quarter and whether the former student was enrolled in an unemployment insurance covered position (that they were a regular W-2 employee at a business).   

The problem with this data is that SBCTC is not able to control for those students who are still enrolled in post-secondary at the four-year level. In other words, NSC doesn’t know if a student not placed in employment is not placed because they’re unemployed or because they’re still pursuing their bachelor's degree. NSC suspects this accounts for why the opportunity gaps are less pronounced for this indicator compared to the previous indicators.  

Disaggregated Level