Student Success
Student Success at SMC
For a glossary of terms used on this page, see the Student Success Glossary.
SMC’s graduation and transfer rates are higher than state and national averages compared to other two-year colleges. Course success of SMC students is consistently high among public two-year colleges nationwide.
Posted in compliance of HLC Policy FDCR.A.10.080
Source: NCCBP Form 7 (Enrollee Success Rate)
Methodology/Definitions: College Level Course Success is measured by Enrollee Success Rate from the National Community College Benchmarking Project (Form 7). It is the percent of students that receive passing grades (C- or better and P) in credit, college-level courses at the end of the specified term.
The cohort of students includes any student in a credit, college-level course (does not include developmental courses, incomplete or audit grades.)
SMC is proud of the diverse mix of students served by the college.
Source: IPEDS Fall Enrollment & US Census (2010), American Fact Finder
Notes: Race/Ethnicity self-disclosed on the application
Tax paying district is Cass County and Hamilton and Keeler Townships in Van Buren County
SMC student persistence across academic terms is in the top 10% of all public two-year colleges nationwide.
Source: NCCBP Executive Report, 2020
SMC has demonstrated consistent improvement and continues to exceed the national average in all eight measures of student satisfaction.
Note: In a normal distribution, the 75th percentile is .6745 standard deviations above the mean.
Source: Winter 2012, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, and Spring 2021 Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory.
Methodology/Definitions: The SSI is an online survey given to all enrolled students every other Spring semester. The SSI scales are made up of a number of individual survey items. SMC means are compared to national (those schools voluntarily participating in the survey administration) means for benchmarking purposes. The %tile is SMC's percentile ranking while the 75%tile is the target.
Source: Winter 2012, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, and Spring 2021 Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Surveys
SMC's graduation rate is consistently above the state average.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rate Survey
Methodology/Definitions: Cohort based on full-time, first-time, degree or certificate-seeking students who complete a degree or certification within 150% of the start date (typically defined as 3 years for an associate degree). Michigan and National Two Year Public graduation rate is calculated using the IPEDS Data Center (Graduation Rate, Total Cohort).
SMC's graduation + transfer rate is consistently above the state and national average.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rate Survey
Methodology/Definitions: Cohort based on full-time, first-time, degree or certificate seeking students who complete a degree or certificate or transfer within 150% of the start date (typically defined as 3 years for an associate degree). Michigan and National Two Year Public graduation rate is calculated using the IPEDS Data Center (Summary Tables Report, Graduation Rate added to Transfer-Out Rate).
SMC has awarded over 6,000 degrees since 2000.
Methodology/Definitions: This metric is the number of Associate Degrees awarded July 1 to June 30 of the designated year. Note: this is the number of awards, not the number of students. Students can earn multiple awards.