Regional Peers – Graduation and Transfer

Graduation Transfer Rate

2025-26 Update:  During the 2025–26 academic year, the College is revising both national and regional peer college lists to ensure they reflect current institutional characteristics and priorities.  The next update of this report will occur following the identification of the new regional peer college group.

Many students attend college with the intention to earn a credential or prepare for university transfer or both.   The combined graduation and transfer rate is the percentage of a *student cohort who complete a PCC degree/certificate or who transfer to a university without a PCC credential within a fixed time period.  The regional peer group consists of six community colleges .

Approximately 39% of first time college degree/certificate-seeking students enrolled full-time in fall 2019, completed a PCC credential and/or transferred to a university by fall 2022.  Combined graduation transfer rates ranged from a low of 35% to a high of 47% among the college’s peers with three colleges having a higher graduation transfer rate than PCC.

3-Year Graduation Transfer Rate Combined
Fall Cohort Peer Range (low to high) PCC Grad+Transfer Peers w/higher rates
2019 (by 2022) (35%  –  47%) 39% 3 colleges
2018 (by 2021) (35%  –  53%) 35% 6 colleges
2017 (by 2020) (32%  –  53%) 39% 2 colleges
2016 (by 2019) (34%  –  43%) 42% 1 college
2015 (by 2018) (32%  –  45%) 39% 3 colleges
2014 (by 2017) (32%  –  45%) 35% 2 colleges
2013 (by 2016) (33%  –  48%) 33% 4 colleges

Graduation Rate

Approximately 18% of first time college credential-seeking students enrolled full-time fall 2019, completed a PCC credential by fall 2022.  Some of these students may have transferred to a university as well.

3-Year Graduation Rate
Fall Cohort Peer Range (low to high) PCC Graduation Peers w/higher rates
2019 (by 2022) (18%  –  34%) 18% 6 colleges
2018 (by 2021) (18%  –  30%) 18% 6 colleges
2017 (by 2020) (20%  –  26%) 20% 6 colleges
2016 (by 2019) (14%  –  27%) 22% 3 colleges
2015 (by 2018) (13%  –  28%) 21% 2 colleges
2014 (by 2017) (15%  –  26%) 15% 4 colleges
2013 (by 2016) (11%  –  25%) 16% 4 colleges

Transfer (no degree) Rate

Some 21% of first time college credential-seeking students enrolled full-time in fall 2019 transferred to a university by fall 2022 before completing a PCC degree or certificate.

3-Year Transfer Rate
Fall Cohort Peer Range (low to high) PCC Transfer Peers w/higher rates
2019 (by 2022) (12%  –  27%) 21% 1 college
2018 (by 2021) (10%  –  29%) 17% 3 colleges
2017 (by 2020) (9%  –  31%) 19% 1 college
2016 (by 2019) (10%  –  29%) 20% 2 colleges
2015 (by 2018) (11%  –  26%) 18% 3 colleges
2014 (by 2017) (9%  –  23%) 20% 1 college
2013 (by 2016) (9%  –  26%) 17% 4 colleges

*The student cohort is defined by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) as a group of students who attend college for the first time in a fall term, enroll full-time that term and have declared they are enrolling to pursue a college credential.

Data Source:  IPEDS, Graduation Rates (150% time) Report