Quickly identifying hurdles that may impede post-secondary education success is essential for achieving student retention and ultimately successful degree/certificate completion. Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is an associate’s degree campus with open enrollment, which leads to a student body that achieved a wide range of academic success at the secondary level. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between academic performance at the high school (grades 9-12) level to retention and graduation rates at NCTA. The cohort of students evaluated were students pursuing degrees/certificates in Agronomy, Diversified Agriculture, and Agricultural Equipment over a 15-year period. Performance indicators included overall high school grade point average, class percentile rank, and composite ACT scores. Correlation coefficients for retention to second year were 0.18 for composite ACT, 0.36 for high school GPA, and 0.38 for class ranking. Graduation rate correlation coefficients were 0.21 for composite ACT, 0.46 for GPA, and 0.45 for class ranking. To no surprise, ACT scores were a poor predictor of student success. Further analysis of GPA and class rank provided the following insights: 78% of non-retained students had a GPA below 3.0 compared to 33% of retained students; 68% of non-retained students were below the 30th percentile in class ranking compared to 25% of retained students. Detailed discussion of this data will be presented as well as advisor reflections on other factors affecting retention and graduation. Discussion will also include data comparison of NCTA to cohort group of similar institutions across the United States as selected by the Nebraska Coordinated Commission of Post-Secondary Education. Evaluation of these academic performances are combined with first semester “Early-Alert” guidelines to maximize student success at NCTA.