How Pierce College became a national leader in student success

In an effort to help more students reach their educational goals, Pierce College became a part of the Achieving the Dream network in 2012. With the organization’s help, the college began to take a closer look at its graduation rates and discovered alarming results.

Although Pierce College has always maintained a strong commitment to student success, retention, course completion and graduation rates were not at acceptable levels.

The college launched a top to bottom, institution wide drive toward equity, and reengineered the entire student experience. Over the course of four years, the college reallocated $3 million from existing budgets to better support student success priorities to help more students reach the finish line.

As a result of interventions designed to improve student success, the college is seeing dramatic improvements in closing achievement gaps and improving graduation rates overall. As a result, the college has received national recognition for student success. For a detailed look at how the college has stepped into the national spotlight, check out the video below, which features interviews with college leaders who work hard each day to ensure the success of our students.