ICC Gets Top National Ranking

PRESS RELEASE

FULTON, Miss. — ICC ranked 34th among 700 eligible two-year institutions.

“This is a significant recognition, which validates ICC as a premier community college,” said President Mike Eaton.

The ranking is based on the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS – Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) measures of student retention and completion.

The CCSSE survey, which ICC has administered every other year since 2006, was given to students at more than two-thirds of all two-year institutions (approximately 700). It includes more than 100 questions on a range of topics such as teaching practices, student workload, interaction with faculty and student support. It is managed by a nonprofit organization of the same name housed at the University of Texas at Austin.

CCSSE combines the results of the questions into aggregate benchmarks in five categories including active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction and support for learners. The benchmarks comprise five-eighths of each college’s ranking, and the remaining three-eighths is based on U.S. Department of Education measures. The data, which is compiled annually, includes first-year retention rate, percentage of first-time, full-time degree seeking students who graduate or transfer within three years and the ratio of all degrees awarded during a given academic year to the number of full-time equivalent students enrolled. Two-year degrees are given twice the weight of one-year degrees.

The measures were calculated as the average results from the three most recent years. Data sources and methods used for calculation are the same as those used by the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. ICC was named one of the nation’s top 120 community colleges by the Aspen Institute in 2012.