ECTC sets school record for graduation rate

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is celebrating growth in student success. ECTC says students at the college posted a graduation rate of 61.4 percent for the 2025-2026 school year, the highest in school history and nearly double the rate from 10 years ago. ECTC Chancellor Dr. Juston Pate said with the graduation well above the national average of 42.7 percent, it is something the whole community can take pride in. “It really does speak to the quality of the college, to the quality of the community that supports that college, and to the workforce in general that supports our graduates and motivates them to get the degrees that lead to those jobs,” Pate said. The graduation rate measures “the percentage of full-time college students who earn a credential within three years of first enrolling at the college.” ECTC says success has been seen in other metrics as well, including an 80.1 percent course success rate in the Fall 2025 semester, which is up nearly 14 points from Fall 2018. Pate said the hard work of the faculty and staff is critical to the college moving forward. “I think what makes me most proud is the work that our faculty and our staff have done for ten years to continually get better, and to continually put our students in a better position to achieve their goals,” Pate said. Pate also credited community partners for their work in reducing barriers to success, such as Family Scholar House. Learn more about similar initiatives on the ECTC website.