October 2015

Reducing the time it takes for students to earn their degree is one of COM's strategic plan goals. The baseline we’re using for improvement is 6.5 years. This is the average time to degree for students who were awarded degrees in 2012-13. In the two most recent years, the average time to degree was approximately 7 years. About half of COM’s students stop out for at least one semester, rather than enrolling continuously until they earn their degree. Some stop out for many years before returning. In addition, most COM students attend part-time. Both of these factors affect the time it takes for students to complete their degree. The median number of years, which helps to account for extremes that can skew the average, is 5. In addition, the median number of terms enrolled is approximately 8.5. You can see more information, including time to degree by academic program online in the Planning, Research and Institutional Effectiveness report.