The Survey of Community College Outcomes (SCCO) is a quantitative, consistent system for measuring community college outcomes that provides a fuller view of what success looks like for community college students.
In the 2025 Survey of Community College Outcomes (SCCO), we collected data from 189 institutions across 10 states (Arkansas, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia). These data cover credit and non-credit enrollment for the 2023-2024 study year as well as student success rates for a cohort of students who entered each institution during the 2020-2021 academic or fiscal year. In February, the Richmond Fed released a subset of success rate data from the 2025 SCCO. In this release, we provide aggregate success rates across a wider range of student characteristics.
The SCCO is designed to create institution-level measures. However, understanding broader patterns across student groups is essential for improving post-secondary success and achieving maximum employment in our economy. In addition, understanding how student pathways and outcomes vary across student dimensions can help stakeholders target resources more effectively.
The 2025 SCCO success rate cohort comprises 297,939 students across 189 institutions. Data are not available for North Carolina and South Carolina across several student dimensions due to reporting inconsistencies; in those cases, the cohort comprises 193,590 students across 115 institutions across eight states. (See table below.)
| Dimension + Definition | Number of Institutions Reporting | Dimension Categories | Count of Students Reported Across Institutions (Aggregate) | Share of Cohort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gender Cohort student gender classifications align with IPEDS reporting requirements |
189 | Female | 175,891 | 59.0% |
| Male | 120,547 | 40.5% | ||
| Not reported/other | 1,501 | 0.5% | ||
|
Credit Hour Enrollment Status A cohort student's credit hour enrollment status is determined based on the first fall or spring semester of enrollment. Students who are enrolled in at least 12 credit hours during the semester are considered to be full time. |
189 | Part-time | 155,037 | 52.0% |
| Full-time | 139,664 | 46.9% | ||
| Not reported/unknown | 3,238 | 1.1% | ||
|
Age Cohort students are assigned to age categories based on their age at the time of initial enrollment during the 2020-2021 cohort entry year. |
115 | Under 18 years | 23,068 | 11.9% |
| 18-24 years | 127,312 | 65.8% | ||
| 25+ years | 42,922 | 22.2% | ||
| Age unknown | 288 | 0.1% | ||
|
Pell Status Cohort students are defined as Pell Grant recipients if they qualify AND OBTAIN assistance via the federal Pell Grant at any point between their entry during the 2020-2021 cohort entry year and the end of the 2023-2024 study year. |
115 | Pell Grant recipient | 68,869 | 36.1% |
| Not a Pell Grant recipient | 121,746 | 63.8% | ||
| Note reported/unknown | 89 | 0.0% | ||
|
Race/Ethnicity Cohort student race/ethnicity classifications align directly with IPEDS reporting requirements. We combine several race categories to preserve student anonymity. |
115 | Hispanic/Latino, any race | 40,238 | 20.8% |
| Asian, not Hispanic/Latino | 10,241 | 5.3% | ||
| Black or African American, Not Hispanic/Latino | 36,100 | 18.6% | ||
| White, Not Hispanic/Latino | 86.558 | 44.7% | ||
| Unknown race/ethnicity | 8,259 | 4.3% | ||
| All others not classified in a category above | 12,194 | 6.3% | ||
| Source: 2025 Survey of Community College Outcomes; authors' calculations. | ||||
While representative of the aggregate 2025 SCCO cohort, the distribution across student characteristics above does not reflect the cohort at any individual institution. For example, the share of cohort students who are adult learners age 25 and older ranges from 8 percent at one school to 62 percent at another school. Overall, 36 percent of the cohort student aggregate received Pell Grant awards, yet more than half of the sampled institutions reported that Pell Grant recipients had rates of 50 percent or higher. Differences in success patterns across characteristics may explain some of the variation in success rates across institutions.
The dashboard below provides an interactive view of how success rates and components vary across the student dimensions.
There are many factors that influence student success rates beyond student characteristics. State policies and funding models, institution characteristics, and local labor market drivers all influence the pathways students take. Students in rural areas may follow different pathways from their urban counterparts. Outcomes also likely vary across student characteristics like educational background, socioeconomic status, and program of study. Nonetheless, examining how community college outcomes vary by student characteristics is essential for identifying strategies to help all students succeed.
Views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond or the Federal Reserve System.
Receive an email notification when a new Community College Insights article posts:
A recent webinar from the Richmond Fed's Center for Rural Economies showed how three leaders from rural community colleges are tailoring their programs to better serve the needs of their students and communities.
Last week, we released results from the 2025 Survey of Community College Outcomes. This post explores the characteristics of Fifth District community college students and the community college pathways that are often overlooked by traditional graduation rate metrics.
Data Download
