With the new school year coming up, many people are looking for the right college to fit their needs and expectations. One factor that may go into their decision is the graduation rate at various colleges.

Wallace Community College Selma and Marion Military Institute rank amongst the highest graduation rates in the state for two-year schools.

According to Susan Stevenson, the executive vice president and chief academic officer for MMI, 27 percent of students graduate in three years.

With the national average for two-year school at 19 percent and Alabama’s average at 16 percent, it’s great to see a local school excelling and boasting a rate higher than the averages. Even better is the combined rate of graduates and transfers graduating in three years is 70 percent.

For Wallace, the three year graduation rate went from between 15 and 16 percent five years ago, to being currently at 25 percent, according to Johnny Moss, the director of marketing and college relations for Wallace.

It’s good to see the improvement at Wallace and we are glad that they are implementing programs and services that address retention.

Although we are happy to celebrate both local schools and their achievements, as a state we still need to look at what’s preventing more people from graduating and how we can help them be more successful.

We hope to see all of the area schools improve on their graduation rate in the coming years.