Print
E-mail
Comment
College enrollments at near-record levels
By MARY ALYS CHERRY
With the economy in slow mode and a shortage of new jobs, many students are opting for an education or continuing one — leading to near record increases at some universities.
San Jacinto College had a 10 percent increase in enrollment to 30,500 students at its three campuses, while Houston Community College enrollment shot up 13 percent to 48,000 and Alvin Community College’s enrollment grew to 5,200, up 14.6 percent.
San Jac Financial Aid Director Robert Merino thinks the increase can be accredited “to the Houston area finally feeling the effects of the bad economy“ while Dr. Bill Raffetto, San Jac vice president, attributes it to “more people discovering that higher education is an investment, which produces a great return rate.”
San Jac South reached the 10,000-student mark this fall, an increase of nearly 9.5 percent, while the central campus with 14,000 students is up 9 percent and the north campus now has 6,000 students for a 13 percent increase there.
“Alvin Community College’s enrollment increase has come from younger students taking academic classes like English, math, biology, and government, as well as a second group of students enrolling in technical programs including allied health, communications, process technology, drafting, and criminal justice,” ACC President Dr. Rodney Allbright said.
“Students understand they can transfer up to 64 credits, and sometimes more, to all state universities effectively completing the first two years of a bachelor’s degree without any loss of credit.”
“Many who might have previously attended a university have chosen to attend their local community college to save money,” ACC Dean of Students JoAn Anderson added.
College of the Mainland’s enrollment, meanwhile, rose 11 percent, to 3,941 students.
“We expect this enrollment trend to continue into 2010,” noted Dr. Michael Elam, COM’s president. “The increase in contact hours in both our academic and workforce programs — 10 and 16 percent respectively — tells me more people are looking for better value and higher job skills during this recession.”
While community college enrollments zoomed to new heights, the same could not be said at the pricier universities.
Although all had increases, few could match the community colleges.
The University of Houston climbed to 37,000 students, a 2.5 percent increase with all its other campuses also showing hikes in enrollment for a system total of 61,000 students this fall.
UH-Downtown was up 4 percent to 12,750 students and UH-Clear Lake’s enrollment rose to 7,663 for a 0.5 percent increase. UH-Victoria’s enrollment climbed to 3,702 for a 16.6 hike by adding two additional years of college.
“This growing commitment to higher education in our community is quite encouraging,” UH System Chancellor Dr. Renu Khator said.
“It’s gratifying that we can help so many students turn their dreams of a college degree into a reality.”
The two biggest schools had only slight increases in their student populations. The University of Texas at Austin enrolled 51,032 students for a 2.1 percent increase while Texas A&M University had 48,913 for a 1.8 percent increase.
Others showed larger increases. UT Arlington’s 28,084 students was an increase of 12 percent with Stephen F. Austin up 7.1 percent for an enrollment of 11,990. Both Rice University and Texas Southern were up 5.2 percent with Rice enrolling 5,620 and TSU growing to 9,584. Texas Christian, however, was up only 1.8 percent with 8,853 enrolled this fall.
San Jacinto College had a 10 percent increase in enrollment to 30,500 students at its three campuses, while Houston Community College enrollment shot up 13 percent to 48,000 and Alvin Community College’s enrollment grew to 5,200, up 14.6 percent.
San Jac Financial Aid Director Robert Merino thinks the increase can be accredited “to the Houston area finally feeling the effects of the bad economy“ while Dr. Bill Raffetto, San Jac vice president, attributes it to “more people discovering that higher education is an investment, which produces a great return rate.”
10,000 AT SJC-SOUTH
San Jac South reached the 10,000-student mark this fall, an increase of nearly 9.5 percent, while the central campus with 14,000 students is up 9 percent and the north campus now has 6,000 students for a 13 percent increase there.
“Alvin Community College’s enrollment increase has come from younger students taking academic classes like English, math, biology, and government, as well as a second group of students enrolling in technical programs including allied health, communications, process technology, drafting, and criminal justice,” ACC President Dr. Rodney Allbright said.
“Students understand they can transfer up to 64 credits, and sometimes more, to all state universities effectively completing the first two years of a bachelor’s degree without any loss of credit.”
SAVING MONEY
“Many who might have previously attended a university have chosen to attend their local community college to save money,” ACC Dean of Students JoAn Anderson added.
College of the Mainland’s enrollment, meanwhile, rose 11 percent, to 3,941 students.
“We expect this enrollment trend to continue into 2010,” noted Dr. Michael Elam, COM’s president. “The increase in contact hours in both our academic and workforce programs — 10 and 16 percent respectively — tells me more people are looking for better value and higher job skills during this recession.”
NOT SO MANY
While community college enrollments zoomed to new heights, the same could not be said at the pricier universities.
Although all had increases, few could match the community colleges.
The University of Houston climbed to 37,000 students, a 2.5 percent increase with all its other campuses also showing hikes in enrollment for a system total of 61,000 students this fall.
ALL SHOW INCREASE
UH-Downtown was up 4 percent to 12,750 students and UH-Clear Lake’s enrollment rose to 7,663 for a 0.5 percent increase. UH-Victoria’s enrollment climbed to 3,702 for a 16.6 hike by adding two additional years of college.
“This growing commitment to higher education in our community is quite encouraging,” UH System Chancellor Dr. Renu Khator said.
“It’s gratifying that we can help so many students turn their dreams of a college degree into a reality.”
UT, A&M UP SLIGHTLY
The two biggest schools had only slight increases in their student populations. The University of Texas at Austin enrolled 51,032 students for a 2.1 percent increase while Texas A&M University had 48,913 for a 1.8 percent increase.
Others showed larger increases. UT Arlington’s 28,084 students was an increase of 12 percent with Stephen F. Austin up 7.1 percent for an enrollment of 11,990. Both Rice University and Texas Southern were up 5.2 percent with Rice enrolling 5,620 and TSU growing to 9,584. Texas Christian, however, was up only 1.8 percent with 8,853 enrolled this fall.
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
