Hudson Valley’s average GPA reflects its community college identity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Jacob Freehart

Staff Writer

How does Hudson Valley Community College perform academically and how does it compare to other colleges in the Upstate New York area as a whole?

Hudson Valley Community College is different from SUNY four-year schools in that it is a unique institution that is accepting of all students, no matter what academic level they performed at in previous schools, while also providing an education in multiple career fields at a low cost.

Due to this form of acceptance, how do students’ academic figures compare across it’s four internal schools and to other colleges in the area?

James Macklin, Director of Planning and Research, and Dennis Kennedy, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing provided figures of students with the average GPA and withdrawal rate of the fall 2018 semester at Hudson Valley Community College. These figures represent each of the four individual schools at Hudson Valley Community College and of the part-time students as well.

The four schools are the School of Business, Engineering and Industrial Technologies, Health Science and Liberal Arts and Sciences. The GPAs and withdrawal rates (see figure) of each school vary as each represents a different background of students.

Carol Bosco, Dean of the School Health Sciences, was not surprised by the average GPA’s within the schools. “In many Health Science programs, students must achieve a C or better in coursework to be successful in a program,” she said. “We don’t require that all students earn A’s, but they do need to have a higher than average working level of knowledge to provide safe patient care.”

Bosco also offered insight and possible reasoning as to why the average GPAs are what they are.

“I believe that our students strive to be the best that they can be, but sometimes due to competing priorities such as family, work, paying bills, difficulty with content, etc… this impacts program retention as well as GPA’s,” she said.

An anonymous student from the School of Engineering and Industrial Technologies, who finished the fall semester with a cumulative GPA of 3.44, had similar views. “Time management is a very large part of receiving a good GPA,” the student said. “I would say the most helpful thing for me when it comes to trying to maintain good grades is to have a calendar with every assignment and all textbook chapters needed for the month,” they said. “That way it’s easier to decide when, and in what order, each assignment will be done.”

A student from the School of Business, specifically the program of Associates in Business Transfers, offered advice for Hudson Valley Community College students.

“If you want to help yourself attain better grades, use the libraries and the many tools they offer like the Writing Research Center or the Learning Assistance Center,” the student said. “Also, just put more time into your school-work if you can.”

There was an agreement between some of the students interviewed that the GPA figures were lower than expected.

A student from the honors liberal arts program, who finished with a GPA of 4.0 in the fall semester, offered a counterpoint. “I wouldn’t say that’s too surprising because that’s a good median and there are certainly students who are doing better and those who are trying their absolute best, even if their GPA is lower,” the student explained.

“C’s get the degrees, but students shouldn’t shoot for the bare minimum,” said a School of Health Sciences student, who is in the nursing program and had a GPA of 2.3 in the fall semester.

“People don’t realize the effect that their grades will have on their future and they don’t put the time in,” added the student from the School of Business.

How does Hudson Valley compare to other local colleges?

According to PrepScholar, Siena, SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Cobleskill posted GPA averages of 3.50, 3.43 and 3.00, surpassing Hudson Valley Community College’s standard of 2.58.

“Being that Hudson Valley is the first college that many students attend immediately after high school, the transition that takes place from high school to college-level courses can be tough for many,” the student from the School of Engineering and Industrial Technologies. “On top of that, many students, including myself, are not 100 percent sure what career path to take.”

Many students shared this perspective and have a similar experience while at Hudson Valley Community College. Many agree that due to its nature as a community college, students are coming from every background, from every level of education and from every age. Many have competing priorities that take precedence over schoolwork, such as work or taking care of family members.

The average GPA does not indicate poor education, but an opportunity for improvement. Hudson Valley Community College offers many forms of educational help on and off campus of which many students take advantage of in order to improve their grades and advance their learning abilities.