More than 500 Fort Lewis College graduates likely opened the door Saturday to higher salaries and higher rates of personal satisfaction.
While there are no guarantees in life, Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia told the students during graduation in Whalen Gymnasium that completing their degrees can help lead to a fuller and richer life.
“College is not a guarantee of anything, but it is still the greatest equalizer,” he said.
Those with college degrees earn median incomes 74 percent higher over the course of their lifetime than people who do not complete a degree, he said.
He also lauded the college for attracting many Native American and first-generation graduates.
“Far too many people from low-income backgrounds or minority backgrounds never get the chance to go to college,” he said.
The college has launched several programs in recent years to make sure students who start at FLC have the support they need to finish, and school officials hope to see this reflected in graduation rates in the coming years.
Among the students crossing the stage after Garcia’s address were some of the first to participate in the college’s Finish in Four program. The program has attracted about 300 students in four years and is aimed at boosting the four-year graduation rate that has hovered in the high teens for about 10 years, said Mitch Davis, a spokesman for the college.
The program offers $500 per semester in scholarship funding and priority registration to help encourage students to finish on time.
“I think the scholarship with the Finish in Four program as been a big attractor,” Davis said.
FLC’s six-year graduation rate has been in the high 30s in recent years, and it rose to 40 percent for the 2015 graduating class. The national six-year graduation rate is about 59 percent, according the National Center for Education Statistics.
Graduation rates are an important gauge of an institution’s success because people with a college degree will earn more, experience more personal satisfaction and engage more civically, said Barbara Morris, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Graduating in four years can lower a student’s debt and allow him or her to start earning a salary sooner, Davis said.
Students who don’t graduate have incurred debt, yet they don’t have the degree to increase their earning potential, Morris said.
“In some cases, it is more of a detriment if they have started and stopped,” she said.
In 2011, school staff examined what they could do differently to increase graduation rates and decided to focus on making the succession of classes needed to graduate a clear “illuminated pathway” and providing more academic support.
To help guide students, the college employs an analytic tool that uses 10 years of historical data to determine which students might need academic help.
“It predicts based on the grades you’re receiving how well you will succeed in your subsequent classes,” Morris said.
For example, the system can see if a B in a certain math class will lead to trouble in later classes.
The tool will tell success coaches which students need help and they can be offered tutoring or other support.
This system helps reach students who may be in the middle academically but could struggle later on, she said.
The college also uses new software to more accurately predict what classes need to be offered and to prevent scheduling conflicts.
It is too soon for the changes to be reflected in the graduation rates, but the college has seen increased interest in the Finish in Four program, she said.
Davis expects to see the program boost graduation rates in 2017.
“If you commit to this program and you do the work, we’re going to make sure you have the support you need,” he said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
