Community college has a 7% graduation rate...

Yes I was shocked by this also. I would assume yes or at least not on the first try.

Um, do you mean specifically the nursingprogram or??? It might just mean that the majority of students transfer elsewhere to finish their degree instead of graduating from that particular school.

my school has a 65% drop rate. the simple reason is: nursing school is hard. from what the department tells me, half of the students drop after the 1st test, 2 weeks into the first semester.

I have a feeling that a lot of people go into nursing school with their heads in the clouds about how nursing is this great career to help people and make great $. I think reality slaps them in the face when they figure out that along with the great career and $ comes really REALLY hard work.

what it comes down to is you gotta want it.

Yes that is also the entire college, not just the nursing program. Its all programs combined

I think this number sounds a little low but not that far off. Many of the students at community colleges are there for a variety of reasons. Mine is in a large college town and we have a LOT of students that are only there to take a few pre-req's and gen ed courses for cheaper. We also have people that only want to start there for a year or so to get some gen ed classes, raise their GPA's, and move on to the larger college.

Also, many people at are college are non-traditional and have families and jobs, which can end up necessitating dropping out for a variety of reasons. Or people may just be taking a few courses to increase their skills in the job market.

It's a little discouraging to see a number like that but definitely focus on your nursing program. Look at the graduation rate there and the rate of students passing the NCLEX on their first attempt. I think that will give you a more accurate picture instead of looking at the school as a whole.

If it's for your entire college, then I'm not shocked. Community colleges tend to have low graduation rates because people transfer, drop out, weren't taking classes for a degree, etc.

Do you know the NCLEX pass rate and graduation rate for your nursing program? I think that's more important.

Like everyone else said, look at the program rather than the school. I took my Pre-reqs at 3 different schools because that is where the classes were that fit my schedule. I ended up in a comlpetely different nursing than where I did my pre-reqs. Those schools have to consider me a "drop out" in their statistics because I did not complete a degree there or transfer to a university. I know I am not the only one that does that. Just an example...

Bloomgirl118 hit it right on the nose. My school's ADN program had a 100% NCLEX pass rate on the first try this year, so that is the real barometer for me. The pass rate is higher than the two BSN Programs in the area!

Not sure of the specifics but I was looking at my CC's graduation rates and they were around 10%. It looked at all students and was based on how many transfered to a four year university or earned a degree or certification at the school in less than 4 years. Since our school has about 25,000 students this really didn't surprise me. I really don't think it says anything definite about your school's nursing program, our school only accepts around 60 students a semester for nursing. Even if they all graduated "on time" it would barely make a fractional difference in our graduation rates. Personally it took me two and a half years to complete my pre reqs for nursing and if I get accepted on my first attempt, without a wait list, it will still take me around five years total to finish the degree. According to how my school conducts their studies even though I have graduated with a degree I did not do it "in a timely manner" and therefore I will not be one of those 10% who "graduated." I'm not sure if you're school does the same as mine but that could account for the seemingly low rates.

That is the rate for the college in general. But shouldn't it be higher b/c of the nursing program and all the students competing to get in??

The number of people competing to get into a school has zero to do with the graduation rate. The only thing that percentage measures is:

# of students that graduate % number of students that attended.

If there are 10000 students attending a community college this year 100 are in the nursing program, that only accounts for 1% of total enrollment. You have to realize, a lot of people who attend community college have zero intention of graduating from there with any kind of degree. Many drop out or use the time to.build prerequisites for other schools. I imagine these factors are contributing to the pow percentage you see.

Graduation rates at larger more typical universities are higher because of major declaration, higher admissions standards and prohibitive cost.