Houston Community College
Houston Community College (HCC) attributes improvements in two-year retention rates of all students by more than 20 percentage points and Hispanic students by 30 percentage points to district-wide implementation of Student Success courses for all new students and other strategies.
Since 2007, HCC has phased in the requirement that all new and transferring students with fewer than 12 semester hours take a Student Success course. HCC offers versions of the course for undeclared majors and students interested in engineering, health care, teaching, and the workforce.
- Fall-to-spring persistence of 2009 cohorts was better than 2006 cohorts— even as enrollment grew— for all ethnic groups except Asian students, whose 78% persistence rate was the same
- African American students made the greatest gains with a persistence rate increase from 69% to 75%
HCC is a large, diverse six-college district that covers 623 square miles in the Houston metropolitan area. It also has five early college high schools.
Enrollment has grown dramatically since 2003, with the number of Hispanic and African American students increasing at a much faster pace than other student populations. In Fall 2009, the college had 54,900 students and of these students, 29% were Hispanic, 27% African American, 10% Asian, and 11% non-resident aliens. Nearly a quarter of the college’s students received Pell grants.
The overall preparation of incoming students has improved with 66% of incoming students being referred to developmental education in 2010 compared to 71% in 2003. An increasing proportion of students need remediation in just one area, usually math.
A culture of evidence permeates HCC with personnel routinely seeking data whenever they evaluate programs, policies, and other activities.
As a result of its Achieving the Dream work, HCC:
- Has offered developmental mathLearning Communities since 2005;learning community students were morelikely than their control counterparts tocomplete the courses successfully, and the greatest gains occurred for those students who had the lowest placement scores
- Began a Minority Male Initiative in 2010
- Will test the Carnegie Foundation’s STATWAY developmental math curriculum,which provides an alternative approach to college Algebra
- Plans to revise Gatekeeper Coursesin English, Math, History, Biology,Chemistry, and Physics
The Achieving the Dream Model
Achieving the Dream community colleges commit to our Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. Based on four principles, the model frames the overall work of helping more students, particularly low- income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently, but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process provides practical guidelines for keeping the focus where it belongs and building momentum over time. Throughout the process, Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized support and help each college’s core team implement data-informed programs and policies that build long-term, institution-wide commitment to student success.
Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges
Leader Colleges are demonstrating the power of the Achieving the Dream Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. They show us it is possible to raise persistence and graduation rates, close achievement gaps, and change lives. Leader Colleges embody the ultimate goal of Achieving the Dream, and as such, serve as mentors within our community of learners.
To be eligible for Leader College distinction, colleges must show three or more years of improvement on one or more of these five measures:
- Course completion
- Advancement from developmental to credit-bearing courses
- Completion of college-level math and English courses
- Term-to-term and year-to-year retention
- Completion of certificates or degrees
