Nearly 8,000 students taking May-August classes; credit class interest also up for Fall ’10
The parking lots and classrooms at Kirkwood Community College were notably busy again this summer. Officials at Kirkwood report an increase of more than 13 percent in college credit enrollments for the 2010 summer session.
Official enrollment was marked at 7,990 credit students, an uptick of 960 people enrolled from the official count of summer 2009. The college offers classes in first, second and summer-long sessions and noted the official count in mid-July.
Enrollment administrators note a large number of “reverse transfer” students in attendance this summer, taking one or more classes that they will apply to college degree studies at other colleges and universities in the coming years.
Many students also took classes via Kirkwood’s Web-based and county center-based Distance Learning options. Enrollments in these local and Internet-delivered courses increased by a combined 25 percent from last summer.
Vice President of Enrollment Services, Kristie Fisher said those and other factors “all came together for a busy summer” at Kirkwood.
“As we took a look at enrollment activity and interest, we saw increases in a majority of our offerings and services. The key for many students is flexibility, and that reflected in the strong Distance Learning and online options. Plus, we welcomed many students who are pursuing degrees at our Regents partner universities and private colleges. They returned home for the summer and showed a lot of ambition in picking up extra credits with us. Many indicators show that for a lot of those students, they are focused on graduating on schedule, with Kirkwood’s help,” Fisher said.
Another big set of factors in enrollments and interest in Kirkwood are economic and job conditions. Admissions, advising and enrollment staff have seen an increase in interest, registrations and enrollments for both summer and fall among “non-traditional” and older populations.
Kirkwood Community College will begin its 45th year of fall classes on August 23. In its founding year, the college enrolled just 199 students in 1966-67.