Reconnect Institutional Compliance Methodology

3. Satisfactory Credential Completion

To remain eligible for full payment through Michigan Reconnect, community colleges must demonstrate satisfactory credential completion by achieving an annual growth target for Reconnect student success. The growth target each year is determined by the institution’s performance for the initial cohort based on a defined baseline. Subsequently, the success rate is based on the previous cohort’s success rate and requires year-over-year improvement, unless and until an institution achieves a 75% success rate. OHE partners with the Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI) to facilitate analysis of progress towards these growth targets and, when the first four-year cohort’s data is available, CEPI will perform the assessment of whether the growth target has been met for each college. 

The baseline for the initial growth target for each college is defined in the legislation as the four-year success rate for the cohort of degree-seeking adult students that entered the college during the 2017-2018 academic year. This baseline was provided to colleges in Spring 2023 by CEPI, allowing a college ample opportunity to register any discrepancies in CEPI’s data and to be able to take steps to achieve its growth target.

• Success is defined to include students who earned an associate degree or occupational certificate or who transferred to a university.
• Degree-seeking adult students who transferred to another Reconnect-eligible institution are subtracted from both the numerator and denominator in calculating the 4-year adult completion rate baseline and future calculations.
• Because tribal colleges were not reporting data to CEPI in 2017-2018, it was not possible to calculate a baseline for them. Instead, the first cohort will serve as the initial baseline. The participating tribal colleges will first be evaluated for satisfactory credential completion after the 2025-2026 academic year, when the second cohort can be compared to their first.

To achieve satisfactory credential completion the first year that it is calculable, colleges must achieve the growth target associated with their baseline completion rate.

Table 1: Growth Target for Institutions by Completion Rate

Note: Growth targets are defined in MCL 390.1705.

Since the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year was the first fall semester after Reconnect started, success rates as defined by the Reconnect grant act can be calculated for the first time following the 2024-2025 academic year.  

When the data are available, CEPI will calculate each community college’s success rate for its entering 2021 Reconnect cohort. This success rate will be compared to the baseline that was already established (the rate for all degree-seeking adults in the entering cohort of 2017). Once the colleges have multiple cohorts, the institutions will be responsible for year-over-year improvements per the statute on an annual basis; the baseline provided by CEPI will only be used for the initial calculations following the 2024-2025 academic year. The below table illustrates the schedule for the first three years. 

The below table illustrates the schedule for the first three years.

In Fall of 2025, per statute, participating colleges will use internal data to evaluate and report whether their growth target has been met. This will be validated by CEPI when the data are available from the college’s STARR reports. 

After the first set of success rates are calculated, CEPI will provide them to the Office of Higher Education, which in turn will notify colleges as to whether each has met the growth target required and maintains full program standing or is being placed on probationary status for not improving their success rates at the required pace. From that point on, satisfactory credential completion will be assessed annually, and colleges will be identified as one of the following for the purposes of Michigan Reconnect:

• On track status: The institution met its growth target.
• Probationary status: In the first year a college misses its growth target, the institution is placed in “probationary status.” This is a warning year. There are no financial penalties or required action for the college. Colleges can only be in probationary status for one year. After one year, a college either meets its growth target and returns to on track status or moves to low performing status if the growth target is not met.
• Low Performing Status: In the second year a college misses its growth target, the institution is placed in “low performing status.” This status results in:
  • Funding cut. The state reimburses institutions for 90% of the last-dollar tuition cost for Michigan Reconnect students and the institution pays the remaining 10% of the last-dollar tuition cost. Students remain eligible for Reconnect and no additional costs may be charged to them. A college will receive full payment once it meets its annual growth target.
  • Corrective Action Plan. The college must develop and submit a corrective action plan to the state. Technical assistance is available from the state, the Michigan Community College Association, and the Michigan Center for Adult College Success. A college will close its corrective action plan once it meets its annual growth target and be returned to full program standing.

Table 2: Satisfactory Credential Completion Status Summary

¹Confirmed annually by the State Budget Office.

²Colleges submit reports by June 30 annually to the MiLEAP Office of Higher Education. The most recent annual reports are made publicly available by OHE on the main Reconnect Transparency and Reporting page.