Student Right-To-Know Graduation and Transfer-Out Rates

What is Student Right-To-Know?

Student Right-To-Know is a federal law that requires all colleges and universities to disclose certain information to students. This handout provides the information that a college must provide to students on graduation rates and transfer-out rates for full-time students seeking degrees at Minnesota State College - Southeast Technical.

What is a graduation rate and what is a transfer-out rate?

Federal regulations specify how to calculate the graduation and transfer rates. The rates come from a study of Southeast Technical students who started at the college in the fall of 2003. The study includes all first-time students who enrolled full-time that fall and were seeking to earn a degree, diploma or certificate at the college. The graduation rate is the percentage of these students who graduated from Southeast Technical within three years. The transfer-out rate is the percentage of these students who did not graduate from Southeast Technical, but instead transferred to another college or university within three years.

What do I need to know about these rates?

These rates do not report on all students at Southeast Technical. The 379 first-time, full-time students in the study were 21 percent of all students enrolled at Southeast Technical in fall of 2003.

What are the graduation and transfer-out rates for Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical students and how do they compare to rates for other colleges?

The graduation rate for Southeast Technical was 49 percent. Greater Minnesota technical colleges had an average graduation rate of 49 percent. The national average graduation rate for similar colleges was 36 percent.
The transfer-out rate for Southeast Technical was 10 percent. Greater Minnesota technical colleges had an average transfer-out rate of 13 percent.
The combination of the graduation rate and the transfer-out rate for Southeast Technical was 59 percent. Greater Minnesota technical colleges had an average combined rate of 62 percent.

Why don’t more Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical students graduate or transfer in three years?

Some students take jobs before they graduate.
Students who switch from full-time to part-time enrollment or "stop out" for one or more semesters are more likely to take more than three years to graduate.
Other students delay their education for personal, family or financial reasons.

Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical