For Ontario college students, there seems to be a never-ending bevy of surveys to rank various aspects of the institution including teachers, services and overall experience. One survey that continues to provide valuable information to the school after the students have completed their programs and left the halls of Fanshawe is the KPI Graduation survey, which measures Fanshawe's student graduation rate.

When the latest survey statistics were revealed, Fanshawe College's President Dr. Howard Rundle called them a "spectacularly good result."

"Historically our graduation rate always fell in the 55 to 59 per cent region," he explained, which he attributed to the school's "high standards for graduation."

"We still maintain those standards," said Rundle, "and our Board of Governors challenged us to see if we could increase the graduation rate without lowering the standard." Therein lied the challenge for Fanshawe students. According to Rundle, "Rather than lowering the standard to increase the graduates, (the college wanted to) see if we can help more students jump over that high bar."

For four years the college put resources into this program, but the graduation rate remained steady. The college's fears were finally assuaged with the survey's most recent results. "Last year, for the first time, we were ahead of the entire province," said Rundle. It was a significant improvement from years past. "We've gone from being a bottom quartile for graduation rate to being around the second to third highest (nationally)."

Fanshawe students have proven once again that they are ready to rise to any challenge given and excel, giving the entire institution something to be proud of.