Student Achievement

Jefferson State Community College uses a number of factors to evaluate student success. These factors are determined based on the student population at the College. Approximately one-third of students (34%) are enrolled in Transfer Programs (AA/AS).  The second largest group is Career and Technical students (31%).  Finally, the College maintains a significant Non-Degree Seeking (NDS) student population (34%) which is as large as the Transfer population and comprised mainly of dually enrolled high school students. Based on these student populations and the College’s mission, vision, and purpose, the following measures for student achievement are measured annually and published on the website of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.  

Student Performance on Licensure Examinations (AAS): Jefferson State Community College will meet or exceed the licensure pass rates for all corresponding career and technical programs accrediting bodies. Each career and technical area that maintains licensure through examination will submit its pass rate to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness. It is the acceptable threshold that each CTE program with a licensure exam will meet or exceed the standard set forth by their corresponding accrediting body (each program’s standard is indicated). 

The College was pleased that every area met and/or exceeded its licensure pass rate according to their accrediting body.  Respiratory Therapy had a low pass rate in 2020-2021.  The data displayed was the rate for that individual year, their benchmark is a three-year average, which they still exceeded.  The Respiratory Therapy Program Director is aware of the low licensure pass rate and assembled an action plan for the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (COARC). In January of 2024, the Respiratory Therapy Program was moved from provisional accreditation to continuing accreditation and their action plan was accepted as satisfactory. 

The Culinary Program proposes to change how the industry recognized ServSafe Certification Course is taught. This includes eliminating the Mylab Link (online resource for students seeking ServSafe Certification) which has proved challenging for some students to follow. Action plans include no longer offering Mylab Link and instead requiring students to do a chapter outline to increase ServSafe credentialing pass rates.

Employment Rate for Graduates (AAS) Jefferson State Community College will meet or exceed the employment rate expectations set forth by the accrediting bodies for all career and technical programs. Each career and technical area must maintain and submit an employment record of their annual graduates to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (IE).  In addition, the IE Office deploys an electronic survey to ascertain the employment status and satisfaction of all Career and Technical graduates. It is the expectation of the College that the CTE programs as a whole will have a 90% employment rate within one year of graduation which meets or exceeds all of the standards set forth by the corresponding accrediting bodies concerning employment rates. If the program is not accredited, it must meet the standard of 90% employment of its graduates within one year of graduation.

While the College met its benchmark in two of the three years (2020-21, 2021-22), it barely fell below during the 2019-2020 academic year.  The CTE areas have been disaggregated in the linked reports, showing the specific areas that were struggling.  Although the effects of the pandemic contributed to some of the low employment rates, the following explanations have been provided by the areas with chronically low employment rates: 

Law Enforcement: The criminal justice field mandates different requirements that outgoing students must attain to gain employment. For instance, physical agility, fitness, and even credit score can affect employment rates within the profession.  Also, there is an issue of students not finishing their degree in criminal justice due to the high demand for employees since some employers hire students before finishing their degrees.

Culinary: The restaurant industry experienced poor business conditions during the pandemic including mandated closings, a cratered economy, and capacity limits in the food industry. The food sector lost about $240 billion in sales. Eight million employees went jobless or were furloughed during the peak of the lockdown, which impacted the College’s graduates’ ability to gain employment. However, the restaurant industry is expected to grow and continue to recover as COVID restrictions retract and the economy rebounds.

RPT: The employment rate for the College’s respiratory therapy graduates declined. The program experienced a decline in the return of surveys by graduates between 2019-2021. The survey allows the College to confirm the employment status of the graduate. Upon investigation, it was discovered that the survey goes to their JSCC e-mail which students no longer use after graduation. Program faculty are now using personal emails and phone calls to obtain this data. Also, the program was unable to place graduates in employment due to the decline in licensure passage rates. The program faculty are working with graduates from 2021 and 2022 to increase the licensure passage rate which will increase the job placement rate. The program developed an action plan to address the low licensure pass rate for current students. 

Transfer Readiness (AA/AS) Jefferson State Community College will have at least 40% of all AA/AS students designated as “transfer ready” at any given time. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness will conduct an annual assessment of “transfer-ready” students. 40% of transfer students must be designated as “transfer ready” (24 college-level credit hours and earned a 2.50 GPA or higher).  These benchmarks allow students to transfer to most public Alabama four-year universities.

The College has increased its benchmark for success from 35% to 40% in the past six years.  The College will maintain this benchmark into the next 3-yr cycle. 

Success of Transfer Students (AA/AS) – Jefferson State Community College will prepare transfer students to achieve a 2.50 GPA or higher while at a four-year university. Jefferson State transfer students must maintain a GPA of 2.50 or greater after transferring to a four-year university.  This GPA is the minimum GPA needed to transfer from a two-year to a four-year institution in the state of Alabama. 

College-going rate of Dual Enrollment Students (NDS) – Students who participate in Dual Enrollment at Jefferson State will have a greater college-going rate when compared to non-dual enrollment students. Jefferson State Dual Enrollment students will have a college-going rate of 85%. The college-going rate is a measurement of a JSCC dual-enrollment student enrolling in any college one-year after HS graduation. 

National Student Clearinghouse Graduation Rate – SACSCOC Key Performance Indicator. -Jefferson State Community College has selected the National Student Clearinghouse Graduation Rate as its SACSCOC Key Performance Indicator. This decision is largely based on the large dual enrollment and transfer populations of the College. The acceptable threshold is that Jefferson State Community College’s graduation rate should meet or exceed the average in Alabama for two-year public colleges.

*Disaggregated graduation data for any previous year can be attained by contacting the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at [email protected]. Populations with less than 10 students will not be available.

2022 Disaggregation