LCCC graduates score high grade point averages at Florida's public universities

LCCC graduates score high grade point averages at Florida's public universities

Director of Public Information
LCCC

Community colleges have no FACT scores to give them a standardized results measure for comparison of their success to other colleges. One measure that can be used to gauge a community college's effectiveness is the grade point average (GPA) of associate in arts (A.A.) transfer students at state universities. So how good a job is Lake City Community College doing?

Dean of Arts and Sciences Brian Dopson was curious and he recently shared his research results referencing the success of LCCC's transfer students in comparison to students from other Florida community colleges.

To make the comparison he researched information available from the Florida Department of Education Web site. What he discovered is that LCCC's graduates have a high success rate recognized in GPA's at graduation from LCCC and selected public universities. The referenced site uses GPA's to measure a student's performance. The following statistics were available on the site from 2004-2006.

In 2004, LCCC students ranked fifth out of the 28 community colleges in Florida with a 3.08 GPA. In 2005, LCCC students ranked fourth with a GPA of 3.07 and in 2006, LCCC students again ranked fourth with a GPA of 3.10.

Dopson also researched information about how well LCCC students excel at the two public universities nearest LCCC. LCCC students transferring to the University of Florida (UF) rank second among students transferring from all other community colleges with a GPA of 3.13. At Florida State University (FSU), LCCC students ranked first among students transferring from all other community college's with a GPA of 3.20.

GPA's of LCCC students at the UF were second after Miami-Dade College followed by Chiopla College, St. Petersburg College and Northwest Florida State College. At FSU, LCCC ranked number one followed by Chiopla College, Gulf Coast Community College, Manatee Community College and Northwest Florida State College.

In addition, Dopson stated that LCCC transfer students perform slightly lower than native UF students, while LCCC transfer students perform higher than native FSU students. He further stated that the UF receives more LCCC transfers than any other public university in Florida and FSU is number two.

Dopson remarked that, "LCCC faculty and staff are absolutely committed to excellence. Our students' success in higher education is a reflection on the values and commitment of the employees of our college. We also owe a "thanks" to the local schools and support agencies that develop community members who are motivated to excel and achieve. It is a positive reflection on all of us."