By Ashley Berry

Wallethub has recently released a study that casts Southern Maine Community College

in a most unflattering light. In the study, they ranked 670 community colleges based on things

like classroom experience, first-year retention rates, graduation rates, in-state tuition, and

student-to-faculty ratio. Out of all the schools surveyed SMCC ranked very close to the bottom

at 644. All of this data was compiled from sources such as the National Center for Education

Statistics, the Council for Community and Economic Research,and the Center for Community

College Student Engagement. Although this data comes from sources that are legitimate, it is

still only data. It is also worth mentioning that one of the sources has made a public statement in

regards to the article.

The statement, released by the CCSSE, mirrors a policy statement that is a permanent

fixture on their website. “CCSSE opposes using its data to rank colleges. Each community

college’s performance should be considered in terms of its mission, institutional focus, and

student characteristics. Because of differences in these areas—and variations in college

resources—comparing survey results between individual institutions serves little constructive

purpose and likely will be misleading.” This data was gathered from an organization that has

always been vehemently opposed to their data being used in a ranking system.

The recently released statement in response to the Wallethub article highlights the

issues with the use of their data. One of the issues that was highlighted was that Wallethub

used data that came from different school years, and reported them as though they were equal.

This was an erroneous use of data according to the CCSSE because “each year of reported

data is standardized based upon the most recent three-year cohort of participating colleges.”

The release of this article brings to mind a statement from Governor Lepage about the

inadequacies of the Maine Community College System. Again the reason for this condemnation

was based purely on data. Who says that statistics and data alone can label a school a failure?

What about the human experience? There are many students who can speak to the wonders of

SMCC and other community colleges. SMCC has an amazing staff and faculty that pushes

students to get the most from their education and from life. This school has turned out some

amazing students and has current students that push and work hard to ensure that SMCC helps

fulfill the potential in all students. No matter what some financial website says, or even what this

state’s own governor says, we are not failures.

Speaking directly to Wallethub: next time you release an article, make sure that the data

used is accurate, and being used appropriately. This article is an example of reporting based on

data that is used and presented inaccurately. That is an unacceptable decorum from a member

of the media. There also should have been some consideration toward the level of support that

the community colleges on this list are given from the states. We can only continue to do the

best with the support given. Considering the severe lack of support the MCCS has received,

what has been achieved is magnificent and should not be devalued by some list of percentages

and numbers on a financial website, or ramblings from someone with no background in

education. They never talked to students or visited one of the named campuses. Those

numbers represent very little in comparison to a person that is allowed to grow and develop into

a well-rounded human being while attending a community college. Above all else, no number

can compare to someone finding their passion through education.