August 12, 2019
East Central Community College (ECCC) in Decatur is the best in the state for the third straight year in preparing students for success at four-year public universities in Mississippi.
Students who transferred from ECCC to a public four-year institution earned the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA) of all community college transfers in the state of Mississippi in 2019.
According to data released by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL), students who transferred from East Central to one of the state’s eight public, four-year institutions earned a 3.32 GPA at baccalaureate graduation in 2019.
Students from the community college with the second highest GPA in 2019 earned a 3.25, and the average GPA for all 15 community colleges combined was a 3.18.
This marks the third year in a row, and the fifth time in the past seven years, that all students who transferred from ECCC to a public, four-year university in Mississippi earned the highest GPA at baccalaureate graduation of all the state’s community colleges.
The report also again showed that community college transfer students performed academically as well or better in university courses than students who began their education at the senior institutions. The overall average GPA at graduation earned by all IHL students was a 3.16.
“This is outstanding news for our college as we welcome our students to campus for the 2019-20 school year,” said ECCC President Dr. Billy Stewart. “Our goal at ECCC is to prepare students to be successful at their next step, whether that is pursuing a higher degree at a four-year university or entering the workforce. Based on the performance of our transfer students, no community college in the state does a better job than East Central Community College of preparing students to be successful at the next educational level.
“I want to congratulate all members of the college family who work so diligently to prepare our students for success, not only in colleges and universities, but the workforce as well. They all make a positive impact on the lives of our students every day.”
East Central Community College offers the two-year pre-baccalaureate Associate of Science and Associate of Arts degrees in 17 major academic concentrations, as well as 24 terminal degree programs in Healthcare and/or Career and Technical Education, and certificates and training in numerous areas through its workforce development program on the Decatur campus, as well as centers in Carthage, Choctaw, Forest, Louisville, and Philadelphia.
