Glossary

Adult Education: City Colleges Adult Education programs provide high-quality, tuition-free English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), high school equivalency preparation (HiSET/GED®), workforce preparation, and digital literacy classes for learners from diverse backgrounds. These classes prepare students to transition successfully into college, career pathways, the workforce and/or to meet personal goals as lifelong learners. In collaboration with community partners, the Adult Education program provides students with supporting services to meet their social, emotional, and academic needs, leading to economic mobility.

Learn more at https://www.ccc.edu/site/Pages/adult-education.aspx.

Adult Education Level Gains: This indicator measures the percentage of Adult Education students whose post-test level on a National Reporting System
test is higher than their pre-test level. It is calculated by the Illinois Community College Board. [1]

Career Bridge: City Colleges Career Bridge Program, a subset of its Adult Education programs, helps students improve their reading, writing, math, and English skills while earning an industry certificate that can lead to entry-level job opportunities and careers. Career Bridge programs are tuition-free and students can complete the program in as few as 1-2 semesters.

Visit https://www.ccc.edu/site/Pages/bridge.aspx for more information.

Center of Excellence: Each City College is a comprehensive community college with one or more Centers of Excellence in high-demand sectors that are important to Chicago’s economy. As focal points, Centers of Excellence are responsible for organizing resources and expertise for the purposes of quality, innovation, access, and partnership in related industries.

City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) 4-Yr. Outcome Measure: This indicator measures whether credential-seeking students new to City Colleges earn a degree, certificate, or transfer to a four-year college within four years of enrollment.

Credit Hour Production: This indicator measures the total number of credit hours in which all credit students enroll in a given fiscal year.

Continuing Education: Educational programs designed to provide students lifelong learning opportunities. These non-credit courses include enrichment, career advancement, customized training for businesses and organizations, and certificate training programs.

Learn more at https://www.ccc.edu/departments/Pages/Continuing-Education.aspx.

Developmental Education: Developmental education aims to “improve students’ skills to increase their chances of success in a credit-bearing, college-level program,”[2] most often in math or English. Developmental education courses themselves typically do not result in college credits.

Early College: City Colleges Early College program creates opportunities for high school juniors and seniors to earn college credit prior to graduating high school.

Visit https://www.ccc.edu/departments/pages/early-college.aspx for more information.

Economic Mobility: City Colleges is preparing to use a new indicator of economic mobility as a Key Performance Indicator. This indicator will compare the earnings of all credential-seeking credit students one year before they started at City Colleges and four years after their first enrollment. Data is provided through a partnership with the Illinois Department of Economic Security. City Colleges anticipates having access to all necessary data for the first cohort of students to be included in the summer of 2021. As a result, there is no baseline or targets as of the publication of these plans.

Equity Plan: In August 2020, each of the City Colleges released a five-year Equity Plan, created in collaboration with the Partnership for College Completion’s Illinois Equity in Attainment Initiative (https://partnershipfcc.org/ilea). These plans formed the second pillar in City Colleges three-fold planning process for 2021-2025, along with their Strategic Enrollment Management Plans and Strategic Plans. The Equity Plans address the unique assets and challenges of each college and form a collective vision for equity and excellence at City Colleges.

For more information, visit www.ccc.edu/equityplans.

Fall-to-Spring Credit Retention: This indicator measures the percentage of all credit students enrolled in a fall term that enroll in credit courses again in the subsequent spring term. Students that earn a credential in the fall term are excluded from both groups.

First-Year Fall-to-Spring Retention: The percentage of all degree-seeking credit students who are new to City Colleges in a given fall that enroll in credit courses again in the subsequent spring term. Students that earn a credential in the fall term are excluded from both groups.

Gateway Courses: When used outside of the context of Adult Education at City Colleges (see next entry), “gateway courses” refer to college-level courses in math and English, which are often regarded as “gateways” to successful student outcomes. According to City Colleges Developmental Education Planning Committee: “Success in English and math establishes critical momentum for persistence and, eventually, degree completion. Nationwide, students who pass college-level English and math in their first year complete their degrees in higher numbers.[3] Outcomes at City Colleges of Chicago show a similar positive effect when students pass college-level English and math in their first year; these positive effects are
seen in students at all levels of academic preparedness.”

Gateway Scholars Program: The City Colleges Gateway Scholars Program is a specific Adult Education program at City Collegesdistinct from the general concept of “gateway courses” described in the prior entry. The Gateway Program offers students that have studied for and earned a High School Equivalency credential (such as a HiSET or GED®) or learned English at City Colleges of Chicago the opportunity to take college credit courses for up to four terms at half price.

Learn more at https://www.ccc.edu/site/Pages/Gateway-Program.aspx.

Higher Learning Commission: The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) is an independent corporation that was founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States. HLC accredits degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in 19 states, including Illinois.[4] Each of City Colleges’ seven member colleges are independently accredited by the HLC.

For more information, visit https://www.hlcommission.org/.

Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI): As recognized in the Higher Education Act of 1992, institutions with 25 percent or more total undergraduate Hispanic full-time equivalent student enrollment.[5]

IPEDS 150 Graduation Rate: This indicator, defined by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), measures the percentage of first-time, full-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students that earn a degree or certificate within 150% of the “normal time” to earn that degree or certificate. “Normal time” varies based on program length.

Visit https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ to learn more.

Minority-Serving Institution (MSI): Accredited, degree-granting institutions of higher education in the United States that either were established with the specific purpose of providing access to higher education for a specific racial minority group or meet certain enrollment thresholds defined in legislation, including Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Predominantly Black Institutions.[5]

Net Promoter Score®: Net Promoter Score® is a method of measuring customer satisfaction introduced in 2003 by Fred Reichheld.[6] It consists of a single question – “How likely is it that you would recommend [an organization] to a friend or colleague?” The percentage of “detractors,” those who are relatively unlikely to make a recommendation, is then subtracted from the percentage of “promoters,” those who are very likely to make a recommendation, to find a single “net promoter” score.

Predominantly Black Institution (PBI): As recognized in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, Predominantly Black Institutions are those that serve at least 1,000 undergraduate students, have at least 50 percent low-income or first-generation to college degree-seeking undergraduate enrollment, have low per-full-time undergraduate expenditure in comparison with other institutions offering similar instruction, and enroll at least 40% African American students.[5]

Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Plan: In early 2020, each of the City Colleges released a three-year Strategic Enrollment Management Plan. These plans formed the first pillar in City Colleges three-fold planning process for 2021-2025, along with their Equity Plans and these Strategic Plans. These plans focused on establishing financial stability​ and enhance the experience for current students.

For more information, visit www.ccc.edu/sem.

Taking and Passing College Level Math/English: The percentage of all degree-seeking students new to college enrolled in a given fall that take a college-level math or English course and earn a C or better in that course. Math and English are reported separately.

Transfer with Degree: The percentage of students that enroll at a four-year institution within two years of completing a degree or the Illinois Articulation Initiative’s General Education Core Curriculum at City Colleges.

Unduplicated Adult Education Enrollment: All students enrolled in Adult Education courses in a given fiscal year. Students are only counted one time per fiscal year.

Unduplicated Continuing Education Enrollment: All students enrolled in Continuing Education courses in a given fiscal year. Students are only counted one time per fiscal year.

Unduplicated Credit Enrollment: All students enrolled in Semester Credit courses for a given fiscal year. Students are only counted one time per fiscal year.

Unduplicated Total Enrollment: All students enrolled across all instructional areas for a given fiscal year. Students are only counted one time per fiscal year.

Work-Based Learning: Work-based learning opportunities include apprenticeships, internships, earn-and-learn experiences, and other models that offer students the chance to build on-the-job work experience, develop a professional network, and demonstrate technical and soft skills. These opportunities also help students build the skills and capital they need to complete their course of study.