With the start of the new school year peaking over the horizon, many local colleges are in the process of registering students and getting them prepared to continue their education.

The Queen City is home to three colleges, Concordia College Alabama, Selma University and Wallace Community College Selma, and Marion Military Institute (MMI) is just a few miles up the road.

Wallace and MMI have some of the highest graduation rates of two-year schools in the state.

The national graduation rate for two-year colleges is 19 percent, and Alabama’s rate is even lower at 16 percent.

According to Susan Stevenson, the executive vice president and chief academic officer for MMI, 27 percent of students graduate in three years and a combined 70 percent of students graduate or transfer to another school.

Stevenson attributed the school’s above average rate to several programs that have been implemented over the years, such as peer tutoring, faculty advising, strong orientation sessions and special events before the school year ends to encourage freshmen to return in the fall.

According to Johnny Moss, the director of marketing and college relations for Wallace Community College Selma, the school has a 25 percent graduation rate for students within three years.

“Over the last couple of years we’ve initiated a lot of programs that deal with retention and supporting student services,” Moss said.

“We want to increase that number. We think that is a good step, and we’re glad to be amongst the top in the state as far as community colleges.”

Moss said the school’s recent success is due to student coaching, which is a program the school has been using the last three to four years.

“It is kind of evolved around counseling,” Moss said.

“Coaches go in and they help the students. They assist them with advising. If students are having personal issues or social or economic issues, students’ coaches will talk to them about issues that are going on.”

Dr. James Mitchell, president of Wallace Community College Selma, said the program has helped the school’s graduation rate go from below average to above.

“I contribute it to us making a considerate effort to be more student friendly, being more proactive in student counseling, student services, student support services, academic support services and providing students with a clear path of when they enter here what it takes to complete a certificate or a degree,” Mitchell said.

“That is very important for a student that comes here. We both fail if the student leaves here and didn’t reach his or her goal, so it is incumbent upon us when we determine what that student’s goal is to do all we can to show that student how to reach that goal and be successful.”

Wallace had a graduation rate that was between 15 and 16 percent about five years ago, according to Mitchell.

While the school’s rate is above average, Mitchell said he will continue to look at ways to maintain and improve that rate.

“We’re going to stay with what is working, but as always with anything you continue to refine and enhance it. We are now looking at having all counselors on this campus regardless of what program they work with be certified as a career coach,” Mitchell said.

“We’re adding new programs. We’re tweaking the programs we have to make sure they are programs students can be successful in. It is multi-pronged in terms of how we want to increase that graduation rate.”

Phone calls to Selma University and Concordia College Alabama were not returned.

According to Selma University’s student consumer information, 25 percent of students graduated in the 2007-2008 cohort.

Concordia’s student consumer information did not contain information disclosing the school’s graduation rate.