Facts and Statistics

Facts & Statistics Topics

Facts at a Glance

Facts & Statistics

Grays Harbor College was founded in 1930, and serves a two-county district comprised of Grays Harbor and Pacific counties in southwestern Washington. Within this 3,000-square-mile district, numerous rural communities combine for a total population of approximately 97,711 people. For comparison, the population of the combined Olympia, Tumwater, & Lacey metropolitan area was 134,481 as of the 2020 Census. Grays Harbor College has campuses in Aberdeen, Raymond, and Ilwaco, and provides educational opportunities at Stafford Creek Correctional Center (SCCC), which is located in the service area.

Students at SCCC are able to complete their high school equivalency and earn certificates in several professional/technical fields, such as carpentry, welding, and business. Due to a recent change in state law, GHC now offers an Associate in Applied Science in Business Management at SCCC.

Grays Harbor and Pacific counties are mostly rural and traditionally have relied heavily on the fishing and timber industries. The region has been heavily affected by the decline of these industries and the recent recession.

Grays Harbor and Pacific counties are also home to several Native American nations, including the Quinault, Chehalis, Shoalwater Bay, and Chinook Indian Nations. Many members of the Grays Harbor and Pacific County communities are employed by Nation-owned businesses.

Summary of Student & Service Area Demographics

  2022-2023 All GHC Students 2022-23 State Funded GHC Service Area of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties
Unique Headcount  2,955 2,224 97,711
% Female2 47% 61% 49%
% HU Students of Color 32% 31% 15%
Median Age 28 23 44 (GH)/54 (P)
% Attending Full Time 39% 48%

n/a
       
Without Running Start:   2022-23 (State Only)

 
Unique Headcount n/a 1,838

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Median Age n/a 26

n/a
% Receiving Need-Based Aid3 n/a 26%

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% Receiving Pell Grant n/a 27%

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[1] State-Funded FTE includes Basic Education for Adults (High School Degree), English Language Acquisition (ELA), Developmental Education (Pre-College), Associates and Bachelors level courses. Excludes 50+ Community Service and Stafford Creek

[2] Of those who answered the question.

[3] From SBCTC 2023 Field Guide (2021-2022 Academic Year). 

2022-23 Enrollment

In addition to college-level certificates, Associates, and Applied Baccalaureate degrees, GHC provides contract training, continuing and community education, and education at the Stafford Creek Correctional Center. The following table counts each student once, and shows the breakout of enrollment across the types of students that GHC serves.

     2022-23    
 Cohort Unique Students Annual FTES % of Annual FTES Median Age
State-Funded1

1,838

 989 63.3 26
Running Start 386 328 21.0 17
Stafford Creek 703 238 15.3 38
Contract Training 28 7 0.5 30
Grand Total 2,955 1,563 100.0% 28

 

2022-23 Enrollment Charts

% Of Annual Headcount (Unique Students) by Student Type

A pie chart showing that 62% of GHC’s total headcount (unique students) is state-funded, 13% is running start, and 24% is from Stafford Creek Corrections Center.

% of Annual FTE by Student Type

A pie chart showing that 63% of GHC’s total FTE is state-funded, 21% is running start, and 15% is from Stafford Creek Corrections Center.

FTE By Course Intent: Selected populations

The following pie chart details enrollments for State Funded and Running Start Students by the intent of the course: Basic Education (includes ELA), Developmental Ed (Pre-College), Transfer courses, and Workforce/Vocational courses. This chart only includes enrollments for State Funded and Running Start Students.

A pie chart showing that 56% of GHC’s state-funded & running start FTE is for transfer courses, 30% is from career and technical education, 11% is adult basic education including ELA, and 4% is from pre-college prep courses.

2022-23 Demographics (Selected Populations)

The demographics in this section reflect all unique State-Funded and Running Start Students from 2022-23. State-Funded includes ELA, Transitions, Developmental Ed (Pre-College), and College-Level Courses. 50+ Continuing Education courses are excluded.

Unique Students by Student Type

A bubble chart breaking GHC’s 2022-23 unique student count into 3 bubbles: 1,838 state-funded students, 386 running start students, and 703 students from Stafford Creek Corrections Center. The bubble size corresponds to the number of students.

% Female: 61.5%

% Full/Part-Time:

Full-time students are those taking 12 or more credits in a single quarter. Based on first full quarter of attendance (fall, winter, spring) or summer if only attended during summer.

  • Full Time: 51%
  • Part-Time: 49%

By Age Group:

Age Group State + Running Start State Alone
 19 & Under 31% 17%
 20-24 23% 27%
 25-29 11% 13%
 30-39 19% 23%
 40 and Above 16% 20%

% Received Pell: 27%

Note: Received Pell only includes State-Funded students, Running Start students are not eligible for Pell Grants.

% Historically Underserved Students of Color: 31%

Historically Underserved Students of Color include American Indian / Alaska Native, Black or African American, Latino/Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, and students reporting Two or More Races, where one of the races is in that list.

By Race/Ethnicity:

2022-23  
Race Ethnicity State-Funded + Running Start
American Indian/Alaska Native 3.0%
Asian 2.3%
Black or African American  1.8%
Latino/Hispanic 19.4%
Pacific Islander 0.2%
Race/Ethnicity Unknown 10.0%
Two or more groups 7.4%
White 56.1%

2022-23 Completions

The number of completions by Academic Year. The count is the number of degrees earned, and not number of students. Some students will have earned more than one degree and will be represented more than once in the count.

 Degree Type 2019-20  2020-21 2021-22 2022-2023
High School/GED 27 35 79 122
Certificate: <45 Credits 161 81 48 72
Certificate: 45+ Credits 44 51 58 39
Associates in Applied Science 58 61 75 67
Associates of Applied Science, Transfer 14 12 7 9
Associates of Arts DTA 239 211 183 218
Associates of Science 14 12 11 9
Associates of Science DTA 16 11 5 7
Associates of Technology 27 22 13 12
Bachelors of Applied Science 28 31 27 28
Total Awards 628 527 506 583

DTA means “Direct Transfer Agreement,” these degrees have articulation agreements with certain 4-year colleges where students can transfer in as a junior.

SBCTC provides dashboards for tracking enrollment, award completion and other student progress measures, faculty and staff, and financial information for all colleges in the WA Community and Technical College system.

In order to productively engage with equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) issues, it is important to have a shared understanding of the language that we use. The Diversity Advisory Committee developed a glossary of Diversity Definitions during the 2021 academic year. To access this glossary, please visit https://www.ghc.edu/edi/diversity-definitions.