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Photo by Jen Ashenberner/The Advocate
Students enjoy themselves at the New Student Orientation Sept. 15. Final fall enrollement figures will not be ready until mid-October
MHCC enrollment levels off
The Advocate
Enrollment for fall 2009 at Mt. Hood Community College has not increased from a year ago, a college official said Thursday.
In fact, current projections show overall enrollment has gone down, according to Nancy Szofran, vice president of research, planning and institutional effectiveness.
This is despite reports that came out this summer about a 31 percent increase in enrollment. In an Aug. 14 email, Luis Juarez, manager of academic advising, wrote that “that on August 10, 2008, the college had enrolled 3,879 students for Fall 2008. By comparison, on August 11, 2009, the college has enrolled 5,092 students for Fall 2009. This is an increase of 1,213 (31.3 percent) students from last year to this year at the same time.”
However, the projections for full-time equivalent enrollment are up.
Full-time equivalent refers to a figure calculated by the state to determine the amount of full-time students and is used for reimbursement. In some subjects, projections are showing FTE (Full Time Enrollment) to be up nearly 200 percent.
In 2008, 69 percent of those who graduated from high school went on to attend college, according to the US Department of Labor. In 2007, 67 percent went on to college, and in 2006, 65 percent. At the same time, the average cost of college for a public 4-year institution has raised 6-7 percent for the last two years.
Institutions such as the University of Oregon have seen a 10 percent decrease in enrollment, and private institutions such as Reed College are projecting a significant drop in students.
Instead, students seem to be gravitating toward community college.
Schools such as Clark College are reporting a 32-37 percent increase in enrollment for FTE students for the 2009 fall quarter.
According to Kate Peterson, the Assistant Provost for Enrollment Management at Oregon State University, “Four year colleges are being very cautious with enrollment projections.” She said community colleges across the board are seeing an extreme boom in students for the 2009 fall term. She also stated that while OSU itself is seeing a “healthy increase in enrollment,” it is still too early to say that that increase is not a fluke.
President Obama’s plan to give $12 billion to community colleges should supplement this sudden influx towards community college campuses.
While all the enrollment numbers are preliminary, there will be concrete numbers by the middle of October, according to Szofran.
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