Student Success
STUDENT SUCCESS
At Nassau Community College, student success means helping every student find a meaningful goal, follow a clear pathway, build momentum, overcome barriers, and complete a credential (degree, certificate, microcredential or workforce training). Student success is a shared responsibility, grounded in high expectations, strong relationships, and equity, starting before a student enrolls and continuing beyond graduation. Simply put: NCC transforms lives, and student success is how we make that real.
WHAT STUDENT SUCCESS MEANS AT NCC
At NCC, success means that every student:
- Has a goal and sees how NCC supports it.
- Has a clear pathway to graduation, transfer, or employment.
- Builds academic momentum from the first semester forward.
- Knows what to do next and has access to timely, proactive advising.
- Can overcome barriers that might otherwise interrupt their education.
- Feels connected and supported by faculty, staff, and the NCC community.
- Completes a credential without unnecessary delays or costs.
- Is prepared for transfer, employment, or continued education.
OUR STUDENT SUCCESS STRATEGY
NCC's student success strategy unites several complementary initiatives into one student-centered ecosystem that supports learners at every stage of their journey, from enrollment through completion. At the heart of this ecosystem is Guided Pathways, the framework that shapes how every other initiative connects to the student experience.
GUIDED PATHWAYS: MAKING THE COLLEGE JOURNEY CLEARER, MORE COHERENT, AND MORE INTENTIONAL
Guided Pathways is the foundation for transforming the student experience at NCC. It organizes programs, services, and processes around how students experience college guided by four pillars:
- Where am I going?
- How do I get there?
- How do I stay on the path?
- How do I know I am learning?
It helps students clarify their goals, follow a clear academic plan, stay on track with coordinated support, and build the knowledge and skills needed for success after graduation.
Guided Pathways provides students with a road map. Academic Momentum ensures students are moving down the roadmap.
SUNY ACADEMIC MOMENTUM CAMPAIGN: HELPING STUDENTS STAY ON TRACK TO COMPLETION
Launched in Fall 2025, Academic Momentum is a SUNY systemwide initiative designed to help more students stay in school, complete their credential on time, and achieve success. At NCC, Academic Momentum is a focused institutional effort to help students make meaningful progress from their first semester.
NCC's Academic Momentum priorities include:
- 30 credits in the first year
- Gateway English and Mathematics early completion
- Stronger advising and structured pathways
- Reducing excess credits
- First-year engagement
These initiatives help students accumulate the credits necessary to remain on pace for timely completion while removing structural barriers that can delay graduation. They also reduce delays in completing foundational coursework, ensure students understand their academic requirements, and strengthen student's transition to college through experiences such as NCC 101.
60-CREDIT DEGREE PATHWAYS: REMOVING UNNECESSARY CREDITS BETWEEN STUDENTS AND COMPLETION
A central component of NCC's current student success strategy is the move toward 60-credit associate degree pathways.
Beginning Fall 2026, NCC's Liberal Arts associate degree programs are being aligned to a maximum of 60 credits, with other degree programs moving to a 60-credit maximum beginning Fall 2027. Moving to a 60 credit degree structure increases on-time graduation, improves student retention, and decreases the overall cost of obtaining a degree—all factors that positively contribute to academic momentum.
ADVANCING SUCCESS IN ASSOCIATE PATHWAYS (ASAP): WRAPAROUND SUPPORT THAT HELPS STUDENTS STAY ON TRACK
NCC's Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP) program provides comprehensive support to close opportunity gaps and help eligible students graduate on time. ASAP represents a shift from asking students to navigate barriers independently to creating a coordinated support structure around the student.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ASAP
NCC 101 AND FIRST-YEAR ENGAGEMENT: HELPING STUDENTS BEGIN WITH PURPOSE
The first semester can shape a student's entire college journey. NCC 101 is a one-credit course that helps students transition to college by providing information about Nassau Community College, as well as assistance in understanding the goals and expectations of higher education. Through NCC 101, first-year students are exposed to the College’s many resources, through presentations by guest speakers, visits to campus services, and information about extracurricular activities.
Embedding intentional first-year experiences into the student journey helps establish belonging and academic momentum before students encounter significant challenges.
LEARN MORE ABOUT NCC 101
GATEWAY COURSE PAIRINGS: CREATING CONNECTION WHILE ACCELERATING PROGRESS
NCC is strengthening Gateway course pairings as part of its student success strategy. Gateway courses allow students enrolled in developmental courses to take complementary coursework while completing their developmental course requirements. The College's strategic plan specifically identifies expanding Gateway pairings, and measuring their relationship to student retention and graduation outcomes.
PROACTIVE ADVISING AND STUDENT SUPPORT: KNOWING WHERE STUDENTS ARE—AND REACHING OUT BEFORE THEY LOSE THEIR WAY
Effective advising is more than registering a student for classes. The College is strengthening advising as a central component of student success and working to ensure all students have access to and receive ongoing academic advisement. At NCC there is an emphasis on more proactive and structured support.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT AT NCC
EOP AND EQUITY-FOCUSED PATHWAYS: ENSURING OPPORTUNITY IS MATCHED WITH SUPPORT
Student success must be equitable. Equity means giving every student what they need to succeed—not giving every student the same thing. NCC's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) provides comprehensive academic and financial support for students who meet program eligibility requirements and may have experienced barriers to college preparation.
EOP provides participating students with opportunities for hands-on learning, independent projects, peer collaboration, and engagement with professionals. These efforts reinforce NCC's commitment to ensuring that student circumstances do not determine student potential.
LEARN MORE ABOUT EOP
SUNY RECONNECT: CREATING A PATHWAY TO FREE ASSOCIATE DEGREES FOR ADULT LEARNERS
Student success includes both students who stopped out and those who have never attended college. Through SUNY Reconnect, NCC is creating opportunities for eligible adult learners to start or return to college and pursue credentials in high-demand fields such as engineering, nursing, and teacher education. Through proactive advising, flexible learning options, career-focused programs, credit for prior learning, and coordinated student support, SUNY Reconnect creates a more direct pathway from prior college experience to degree completion and from degree completion to economic opportunity.
LEARN MORE ABOUT SUNY RECONNECT
REMOVING BASIC-NEEDS BARRIERS
For many community college students, academic challenges are inseparable from financial and personal challenges. Students may be balancing employment, family responsibilities, transportation costs, food insecurity, childcare, technology needs, and other pressures while pursuing a college credential.
NCC's student success approach therefore connects students to resources that support the whole student, including financial aid, counseling, disability services, childcare resources, mental health supports, career services, academic assistance, and other campus supports. Programs such as ASAP take this approach further by providing assistance with costs such as textbooks, transportation, groceries, and other expenses for eligible students. When barriers outside the classroom threaten academic progress, student success requires the College to respond inside and outside the classroom.
NCC TRANSFORMS LIVES, AND STUDENT SUCCESS IS HOW WE REALIZE THIS COMMITMENT
Guided Pathways gives students a clear direction, and Academic Momentum keeps them on track to get there, supported through a coordinated approach that ensures they are guided every step of the way. Together, these efforts share one goal: helping every NCC student graduate on time with a plan for what comes next.
