Skip to main content

Transformational Aspirations

Montgomery College graduating students celebrating

The bold set of transformational aspirations that will guide the College for the next decade focuses on engagement with internal and external stakeholders and identifies social, economic, and community impacts that will transform lives and society. These aspirations can be broken into three components: access, completion, and post-completion success.

  • Access is not simply opening the doors of the institution to those interested in attending. Instead, it is deliberate work in the community to create a college-going culture across the county, and especially in those areas where going to college has historically been the exception instead of the expectation.
  • Completion is not just about earning degrees. The College must ensure that all credentials that the College offers provide experiences of economic, social, and community impact.
  • Post-completion success is our institutional ability to transform lives. When students leave MC, whether they are transferring to another school or entering the workforce, they need to have mastered skills that will ensure success on their journey and allow them to earn a family sustaining wage.

Each aspiration is accompanied by objectives and intended outcomes with specific and measurable targets which we want to realize in ten years. These aspirations are ambitious, big ideas that will have a deep and lasting impact on the communities of Montgomery County.

Dashboard

ACCESS: Create a college going culture

Objective: All MCPS students and their families will have a meaningful connection to Montgomery College by 7th grade.

A. Intended Outcome: One hundred percent (100%) of 7th graders had meaningful interactions with the College:

Rate of 7th graders that had meaningful interactions with the College
  2023 2024 Aim
Percent of MCPS 6th graders with meaningful interactions. Sources 0% 0% 100%

 

B. Intended Outcome: Families of 7th graders given relevant information about the College:

Rate of families of 7th graders given relevant information about the College
  2023 2024 Aim
Percent of MCPS 6th grade families contacted. Sources 0% 0% 100%

 

C. Intended Outcome: Post-secondary participation rate at Montgomery College for each high school in the college service area will exceed 40% in their first year after graduation:

Post-secondary participation rates at Montgomery College for each high school in the college service area
  2023 2024 Aim
MCPS totals. Sources 18% 20% 40%

 

D. Intended Outcome: Fifty percent (50%) of graduating MCPS students will have taken at least one course at Montgomery College by time of high school graduation:

Percentage of MCPS students that have taken at least one course at Montgomery College by time of high school graduation
  2023 2024 Aim
Percent of MCPS graduates of a given year who were enrolled in credit dual enrollment prior to graduation. Sources 12% update pending 50%
COMPLETION: Provide experiences of economic, social, and community impact

Objective: All students will have an experience of economic, social, and community impact.

A. Intended Outcome: One hundred percent (100%) of offerings (credit and non-credit) will be mapped to a credential of economic, social, and community impact:

Credit and non-credit offering rates
  2023 2024 Aim
Percent of degrees and certificates that lead to a living wage, teach employable skills and encourage civic engagement. Sources 67% 66% 100%

 

B. Intended Outcome: Fifty percent (50%) completion rate for all student cohorts, regardless of demographic category:

College completion rates
  2023 2024 Aim
Percent of FTEIC students who earn a degree or certificate within 3 years (Total). Sources 18% 19% 50%

 

C. Intended Outcome: Increased access and greater affordability relating to four-year credentials:

Four-year credentials access and affordability rates
  2023 2024 Aim
Median total debt after graduation from MC -- Title IV students. Sources $10,415 $10,415 Not Applicable
MC average annual actual cost as percent of University of Maryland, College Park. Sources 40% 49% Below 45%
MC annual tuition and fees as a percent of Maryland public four-year institutions. Sources 53% 53% Below 57%
Percent of MC Students experiencing at least one basic needs insecurity. Sources 57% 57% Below 50%

 

D. Intended Outcome: Increased civic engagement:

Civic engagement rates
  2023 2024 Aim
Voting rate. Sources 58% Update Fall 2025 Above 65%

 

 

POST-COMPLETION SUCCESS: Transform lives

Objective: Enhanced economic and social mobility and intergenerational mobility.

A. Intended Outcome: Increase in percentage of residents earning a family sustaining wage:
*The family sustaining wage in 2023 was $68,380 and in 2024 was $75,940 

Residents earning a family sustaining wage rates
  2023 2024 Aim
Median earnings of all former students who received federal financial aid 10 years after starting at MC. Sources $49,278 $50,159 above living wage 
Percent of households in Montgomery County making more than living wage. Sources 68.0% update pending 80% or more

 

B. Intended Outcome: Decrease gaps in earnings and poverty amongst different racial and ethnic groups:

Earnings and poverty rates amongst different racial and ethnic groups
  2023 2024 Aim
Largest gap in mean per capita income in Montgomery County by race/ethnicity. Sources $56,310 update pending $28,155 or less

 

C. Intended Outcome: Decrease unemployment and underemployment rates by 50%:

Unemployment and underemployment rates
  2023 2024 Aim
Annual unemployment rate for Montgomery County. Sources 2.9%  1.9% 2.75% or less