Student Achievement Data
Statement of Goals for Student Achievement
As an institution accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, Bossier Parish Community College is committed to supporting student success in the classroom environment as well as preparing students for success beyond graduation. In that endeavor, the College collects data for study and continuous improvement of our academic and student services and engages in a campus-wide effort for strategic planning. Bossier Parish Community College has developed a strategic plan that focuses on providing support and services to promote student success and excellence in higher education. With a pillar focused on Our Students, the College’s Strategic Plan identifies the following goals:
- Achieve higher rates of persistence, retention, completion, graduation, engagement, and satisfaction
- Provide excellent service through delivery of world-class program, high-quality instruction, advising, onboarding, and student support services
- Develop data-driven success pathways to support student academic and career planning.
Further, with another pillar focused on Growth and Innovation, the College has committed to the following goal:
- Establish and implement best practices and strategies to recruit and retain high-quality employees and students.
Each year, the College gathers data for reporting and evaluation of success with respect to student achievement consistent with its mission. Information includes retention, graduation, and course completion as well as licensure examination data and job placement rates, where applicable. This information is complete, current, and timely and is provided to students, constituents, and the public to demonstrate the College’s obligations for public disclosure.
Board of Regents – BPCC Strategic Plan (2023/2024 – 2027/2028)
Although there may be many reasons that students may not return to continue their studies, Bossier Parish Community College is committed to supporting students and determining what challenges impede their success. Analysis of retention data helps us to reach that goal, and the College reports retention in several ways. To provide a broader scope for data analysis, the College gathers data for retention of students from one fall semester to the next fall semester; retention summaries of individual academic divisions; and retention statistics for each course offered. The College gathers data of both full-time and part-time students and segregates retention according to academic division and by specific course comparisons (see Retention and Success report below). These instruments provide measurements of success and information for evaluation and improvement.
To give students many opportunities to earn a credential and be prepared for entering the workforce or transferring to a four-year university, Bossier Parish Community College offers a variety of degree programs, certificates, and technical diplomas for students. The College holds graduation ceremonies in fall, spring, and summer, and graduation rates are reported for each semester. Information is segregated by gender, race, and program (see BPCC Fact Book below). This data can be utilized to assess program effectiveness and student achievement of completion.
Recognizing that course completion is fundamental to program completion, Bossier Parish Community College monitors course completion rates to acquire data to determine courses that students may find challenging in their academic studies and then determine what can be done to address those challenges. The focus on individual courses provides data to address specific areas to study for improvement. Data is gathered each semester, and not only is it segregated according to course, but also the data is segregated according to mode of delivery. To serve its students, Bossier Parish Community College offers online, hybrid, and traditional face-to-face courses, and each mode of delivery is considered since mode of delivery may also affect course completion. This data is gathered each semester (see Retention and Success report below), and it is disseminated to respective academic deans for evaluation of student success of each course within the division. Deans may then share the information with faculty to ascertain what modifications may need to be made to increase student success within those classes.
Licensure examinations provide specific measurements of student success and achievement for programs offered at Bossier Parish Community College. Some programs at Bossier Parish Community College prepare students for licensure and practice in the field, including the Associate of Science in Teaching, Paramedic, Nursing, Practical Nursing, Occupational Therapy Assistant, Pharmacy Technician, Phlebotomy, Physical Therapist Assistant, Respiratory Therapy, Surgical Technology, Medical Assistant, and Medical Office Specialist programs. To ensure high quality of education being offered in preparation of students to pass licensure examinations, passage rates are monitored by program directors and academic deans. Listed below are links to a few of these programs and the data pertaining to exam participation, and/or passage rates, and a few job placement rates.
Bossier Parish Community College maintains strong partnerships with business and industry in the community and is committed to producing workforce-ready, successful graduates. Therefore, in addition to anecdotal feedback received from business and industry representatives who serve on the College’s program advisory boards, the College attempts to collect data to learn how many graduates have entered the workforce as employees. However, there are limitations to the data because thus far, we have only been able to track students who have been employed by organizations within the state of Louisiana. Of note, also, is that many students at Bossier Parish Community College transfer to four-year institutions before entering the workforce, and the data gathered does not include those students.