Regional Peers – Retention
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.
The continued enrollment of new to college students from their first fall term to the second fall term helps students maintain academic momentum, a leading indicator of subsequent goal completion. Most recently, 56% of PCC first time in college credential-seeking students who were enrolled full-time fall in 2021, returned to PCC in fall 2022.
The regional peer group consists of six community colleges. Fall 2021 to fall 2022 full-time student retention rates among regional peers ranged from 55% to 70% with four peer colleges reporting a higher retention rate than PCC. The retention of students enrolled part-time ranged from 28% to 47% and five colleges reported higher retention rates than PCC.
| Fall Student Cohort | Peer Range (low to high) | PCC Retention | Peers w/higher rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 (to 2022) | 55% – 70% | 56% | 4 colleges |
| 2020 (to 2021) | 53% – 68% | 61% | 1 college |
| 2019 (to 2020) | 55% – 63% | 62% | 1 college |
| 2018 (to 2019) | 58% – 66% | 65% | 1 college |
| 2017 (to 2018) | 58% – 69% | 63% | 2 colleges |
| Fall Student Cohort | Peer Range (low to high) | PCC Retention | Peers w/higher rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 (to 2022) | 28% – 47% | 34% | 5 colleges |
| 2020 (to 2021) | 27% – 50% | 37% | 3 colleges |
| 2019 (to 2020) | 24% – 48% | 41% | 1 college |
| 2018 (to 2019) | 20% – 45% | 44% | 2 colleges |
| 2017 (to 2018) | 23% – 45% | 45% | 0 colleges |
Data Source: IPEDS, Fall Enrollment Reports