Dallas County Community College District sets record fall enrollment

by PegNews wire

The fall 2009 semester for the Dallas County Community College District began with a bang on Mon., Aug. 24: All DCCCD colleges -- Brookhaven, Cedar Valley, Eastfield, El Centro, Mountain View, North Lake, and Richland colleges -- are seeing enrollment increases. Parking is at a premium, and faculty and staff members have even been asked to volunteer to park on the outer areas at one college so that students will have better access to spaces on campus.

Overall, preliminary enrollment figures indicate that DCCCD is tracking a 9.6% increase over fall 2008 (which also saw a 4% increase last year) for a total of 71,928 students. That record-setting total is a duplicated enrollment figure; in other words, it counts some students more than once because they may take classes at more than one campus. The percentage increase translates into more than 6,300 additional students, according to preliminary figures.

Final numbers will not be available until the 12th class day -- September 5 -- when DCCCD reports “official” numbers to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Dual credit numbers and students who take courses which begin after that date are not included in 12th-day class figures.

DCCCD administrators believe that the increase -- which other community colleges are experiencing across Texas and the country -- is occurring for two major reasons: economic conditions are sending students back to school to upgrade skills or pursue new career fields; and DCCCD recently opened five new community education campuses across Dallas County (in Coppell, Irving, west Dallas, Pleasant Grove, and Garland), which is contributing to enrollment growth as well.

Source: DCCCD