Georgia Gwinnett Students Score Among Nation's Best Colleges

Submitted press release

According to senior college students participating in the 2014 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Georgia Gwinnett College’s innovative approach to higher education not only works, it outperforms many other institutions across both the state and nation.

NSSE annually surveys students across the country to measure how well colleges and universities perform in several areas that nurture student engagement, a critical predictor of student success. According to NSSE, survey items on The College Student Report “represent empirically confirmed good practices in undergraduate education.”

“It is a known fact that engaged students do better in college,” said Dr. Lois C. Richardson, interim senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs and provost. “They stay in school, progress toward their degrees and graduate at higher rates than students who are not engaged.”

GGG’s fall 2014 student retention rate of 68.2 percent is unusually high for an access institution, and indicative of the college’s success at engaging its students.

The data revealed that GGC’s average scores were better than the average composite scores of NSSE-participating University System of Georgia institutions in all of the student engagement indicators. It also outperformed a classification of similar institutions in several indicators, and outperformed the 2013 and 2014 NSSE overall average scores.

“These outstanding results indicate that GGC’s model for student success works,” said Dr. Stas Preczewski, president. “Across the country, a lot of students go to college but many of them do not succeed and graduate. The most effective way to change this pattern is to improve student engagement. GGC’s model was designed specifically to accomplish this, leading to greater student success.”

Student engagement also directly impacts retention, progression and graduation (RPG) rates – key performance measures for colleges and universities. Most U.S. states now use RPG rates in determining funding levels for public institutions. Improved student engagement therefore leads to increased funding.

“This creates a cycle of success through which the college is rewarded with increased resources for doing its job well. Those resources are then reinvested in ways that further enhance student engagement and success,” Preczewski said. “This model is self-sustaining and perpetuating.”

-------

Photo: Georgia Gwinnett College Professor of Nursing, Dr. Keeta P. Wilborn (left) engages with a GGC student at a recent Create STEM Fair as he explains his poster presentation. (Credit: GGC)