The Center for Community College Student Engagement has released the 2014 Key Findings from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE).     The findings from the survey indicate that Ozarka College is an exceptional and affordable choice for college bound students, as the college scored well above the state and national averages in all five categories:   Active and Collaborative Learning, Student Effort, Academic Challenge, Student-Faculty Interaction, and Support for Learners.

CCSSE was piloted in 2001 by the Center for Community College Student Engagement and since has been administered annually at Ozarka College.   An initiative of the Program in Higher Education Leadership in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin, the Center is an umbrella organization for quantitative and qualitative research, as well as for service to community colleges across the United States and Internationally.

The CCSSE Benchmarks of Effective Practice denote areas that educational research has shown to be important to students' college experience and educational outcomes.   Active and Collaborative Learning, for example, states that students learn more when they are actively involved in their education and have opportunities to think about and apply what they are learning in different settings. In this category, Ozarka College earned 5.1 points above the Arkansas Community Colleges (ACC) average and 4.4 points above the CCSSE national score.

Another benchmarking category is Academic Challenge, which CCSSE describes as, "Challenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality. In this category, Ozarka College scored 6.6 points above the ACC average and CCSSEE national average.   Additionally, Ozarka College was just 1.2 points less than the top 10% of highest performing colleges in the country.

In general, the more contact students have with their teachers, the more likely they are to learn effectively and to persist toward achievement of the educational goals, as described in the benchmarking category, Student-Faculty Interaction. In this category, Ozarka College scored 4.2 points above the ACC average and 7.6 points above the CCSSE national score.

Students perform better and are more satisfied at colleges that provide important support services, cultivate positive relationships among groups on campus, and demonstrate commitment to their success, as described in the Support for Learners benchmark.   In this category, Ozarka College earned 2.7 points above the ACC average and 8.9 points above the CCSSE national score.

The final category to consider is Student Effort. A student's own behavior contributes significantly to his/her learning and the likelihood that he/she will successfully attain his/her educational goals.   In this category, Ozarka College scored just one tenth of a point less than the top 10% of the highest performing colleges in the country, and earned 6.5 points above the ACC average and 8.5 points above the CCSSE national score.

Ozarka College proves to be a great investment for students from all walks of life.   After visiting the four-year university he will be attending, Chris McGowan, a recent graduate of Ozarka College, wrote a thank you note to Ozarka College.   He explained that he didn't have a very good experience when going to purchase books at the four-year university.   "I now realize that I took for granted many of the services and help I received from Ozarka.  I never realized how much I loved Ozarka until that moment, because my education and future was important to Ozarka. When I left the four-year university, I was boiling mad and was almost ready to throw in the towel. I can't express how awesome Ozarka College is and I would definitely recommend the school to anyone.

Not only is Ozarka College celebrating their 40^th year in Higher Education, but are also higher ranked than the state and national averages in all five key components in the College Survey of Student Engagement.   Additionally, Ozarka College has numerous programs of study that can be completed fully online, the convenience of four campus locations, and partnerships with four-year college and universities that enable students to transfer with ease.

Registration for new students begins on November 10, 2014. For more information about beginning your education with the highly ranked Ozarka College, please call toll free: 870.368.2300 or register online at www.ozarka.edu by clicking the "Apply Online Here link.