Student Achievement Data

Persistence Rates

Persistence rates (retention rates) are a commonly used student progress measure for both two-year and four-year institutions.  The definitions for these rates typically use a fall term cohort (often the first-time freshman cohort).  The most frequently used rates are fall-to-spring persistence and fall-to-fall persistence:

FDTC’s Benchmark: 71%, used by the South Carolina Technological College System.

FALL-TO-SPRING PERSISTENCE RATES - TARGET 71%

COLLEGE NAME 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 Met Target
Florence-Darlington 68% 71% 67% 72% Y
SCTCS RATE 72% 74% 72% 73%  

FALL-TO-SPRING PERSISTENCE COLLEGE-LEVEL DATA 2021-22

  Numerator Denominator Percentage
Florence-Darlington 1,718 2,378 72.25%
SYSTEM RATE 1,718 2,378 72.25%
System Numerator and Denominator: 2021-22
Total Numerator (42,368)/Total Denominator (58,021) = 73.02%
Data Source: EDSS Report ENR115PI
Notes: Initial Fall 2021 Close Data and Retained Spring 2022 Open Data (High School Student are Excluded)

Student Success Rates

The Student Success Rate is a cohort-based measure of graduation, transfer to another postsecondary institution in South Carolina, or continuing enrollment after three years of first-time enrollment. The cohort includes all first-time freshman enrolling in degree, diploma, or certificate programs in each fall semester. 

SCTCS Performance Funding Indicators, April 2023
STUDENT SUCCESS RATES - TARGET 49%

COLLEGE NAME 2018 Cohort Met Target
Aiken 36% N
Central Carolina 38% N
Denmark 36% N
Florence-Darlington 33% N
Greenville 43% N
Horry-Georgetown 43% N
Midlands 50% Y
Northeastern 50% Y
Orangeburg-Calhoun 49% Y
Piedmont 47% N
Spartanburg 45% N
Lowcountry 35% N
Tri-County 70% Y
Trident 41% N
Williamsburg 38% N
York 48% N
SCTCS Rate 47%  
System Numerator and Denominator
Total Numerator (7,563) / Total Denominator (16,979) = 44.54%
Data Source: EDSS Report IPD314
  Numerator Denominator Percentage
Aiken 201 557 36.09%
Central Carolina 278 733 37.93%
Denmark 37 104 35.58%
Florence-Darlington 281 855 32.87%
Greenville 860 2,017 42.64%
Horry-Georgetown 532 1,230 43.25%
Midlands 1,155 2,331 49.55%
Northeastern 131 260 50.38%
Orangeburg-Calhoun 168 344 48.84%
Piedmont 434 921 47.12%
Spartanburg 402 898 44.77%
Lowcountry 141 404 34.90%
Tri-County 1,463 2,098 69.73%
Trident 897 2,198 40.81%
Williamsburg 34 89 38.20%
York 464 964 48.13%
SCTCS Rate 7,478 16,003 46.73%

Graduate Placement Rates

Graduate placement rates reflect the success of graduates with respect to employment or continued education.  Colleges use various methods to obtain information on graduates, such as the National Student Clearinghouse, the eTRACK service of the Department of Employment and Workforce, institution-specific graduate surveys, a Department of Defense database, and student information systems.  Those graduates who are deceased, disabled, and not actively seeking employment (e.g., active military) are excluded from the placement rate.

FDTC’s Benchmark:  80%, used by the South Carolina Technical College System

SCTCS Performance Funding Indicators, April 2023

Graduate Placement Rates - Target 80%

COLLEGE NAME 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 Met Target
Florence-Darlington 94% 86% 86% 96% Y
SCTCS RATE 90% 91% 90% 91%  

Graduate Placement

College-Level Data 2020-21

  Numerator Denominator Percentage
Florence-Darlington 592 614 96.42%
SYSTEM RATE 15,883 17,375 91.13%
System Numerator and Denominator:
Source: Program Evaluation System (PEMS)


Licensure Exam Pass Rates

The Commission on Higher Education (CHE) has the responsibility for making available to the General Assembly “student scores on professional examinations with detailed information on state and national means, passing scores, and pass rates, as available, and with information on such scores over time, and the number of students taking each exam” from both four- and two-year institutions (S.C. Code Section 59-101-350). CHE also uses this information as the primary source to fulfill the requirements in S.C. Section 59-103-30 (Performance Funding). Colleges report the number of examinees, the number of first-time examinees, the number of first-time examinees who pass, and the percentage of first-time examinees who pass for the list of licensure exams identified by CHE. The reporting guidelines specify that colleges report those who took exams between April 1st and the following March 31st. CHE requests national and state pass rates and any additional information for these examinations, as it is available, from national and state agencies for the report to the General Assembly. These national and state agencies can be found in A Closer Look at Public Higher Education in South Carolina, which is available on the CHE website. The colleges will begin reporting this information to the System Office with the next reporting cycle. The System Office will collect this data and report it to CHE.

FDTC’s Bench mark: 80%, used by the South Carolina Technical College System 

SCTCS Performance Funding Indicators, April 2023

LICENSURE EXAM PASS RATES - TARGET 80%

COLLEGE NAME 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 Met Target
Florence-Darlington 81% 84% 81% 87% 92% Y
SCTCS Rate 89% 88% 87% 87% 85%  

 

SCTCS: Licensure Examination Pass Rate Percentage by College
April 01, 2021 - March 31, 2022

College First-Time # Tested First-Time # Passed % Passing
FDTC 134 123 91.79%
Total 134 123 91.79%
System Numerator and Denominator
2021-22: Total Passed (2,587) / Total Test Takers (3,051) = 84.79%
Data Source: CHE Licensure Exam Report - Submitted by colleges via email

 

Six-Year Outcomes and Total Completion Rates

Six-Year Outcomes
and Total Completion Rate

Students who Started at FDTC

Students who started Fall 2014 Students who started Fall 2015 Students who started Fall 2016
  FDTC National 2 Year FDTC National 2 Year FDTC National 2 Year
Total Enrolled (#) 831 772,884 781 744,101 704 721,089
Total Completion Rate over 6 years (%) 29.88 40.28 31.04 42.17 36.51 43.08
Data Source: National Student Clearinghouse Signature Report (2014 Fall Cohort, 2015 Fall Cohort, 2016 Fall Cohort)
Table 2A: "Six-Year Outcomes and First Completion for Students Who Started at Your Institution by Gender"
Table 2B: National Benchmark: Six-Year Outcomes and First Completion for Students Who Started at Two-Year Public Institutions by Gender