Dateline: November 29, 2007

Study shows CC serves kids well   

Clarendon College stacks up well when compared to other institutions its size and is particularly good when it comes to serving students, according to recent a recent study.

CC President Bill Auvenshine says information from the National Center for Education Statistics shows Clarendon is doing several things well.

“I think Clarendon College measures up very well with other schools our size,” Auvenshine said.

Tuition and required fees at Clarendon College is considerably less when compared to other similarly sized colleges. CC students pay about $1,656 per academic year, while students at comparable colleges pay an average of $2,550.

Graduation rates at CC exceed the comparison group, particularly for blacks and other minorities. And while CC awards fewer associate’s degrees than the comparison group median, it awards more than twice as many one-year program certificates and more than five times as many certificates for programs less than one year.

The data also shows that Clarendon College serves its students while keeping costs below other colleges in every category, having fewer staff and administrative positions than other colleges, yet having more instructors than the median.

“We’re spending less, but our students measure up,” Auvenshine said. “Our kids are pretty good kids and better than most.”

Auvenshine said that recent information from Austin shows a profile of community college students in which 75 percent need developmental studies and graduation rates need to be improved. By comparison, last year it was estimated that 40 percent of CC students would be academically disadvantaged, but only 36.31 percent tested as such, he said.

CC also had a higher than expected rate of kids who met the TSI obligation in remedial classes. Only thirty-nine percent were expected to pass, but 51.73 percent actually did pass, the president said.

“The caliber of students at Clarendon College is higher than the state average,” Auvenshine said.

For the study, the National Center for Education Statistics compared CC with 20 other public colleges serving rural populations in the Southwest, Rocky Mountains, and Far West, including Frank Phillips College at Borger, Texas State Technical College at Sweetwater, Ranger College in Ranger, and Western Texas College in Snyder.