Terra State Community Colleges sees increase in enrollment
Terra State Community College has seen an increase in its enrollment to the tune of 8.5% more enrollments than last year. While the numbers look good, the school acknowledges that there is still more work to be done.
Terra State Community College is seeing an increase in enrollment numbers.
President Ronald Schumacher was quoted in The News Messenger with the exact figures: "This year we're up about 8.5% above where we were last year, which is a great improvement for us." He stated his pleasure with this increase, saying that the numbers were “looking good.”
According to President Schumacher, the community college is one of the few schools in the state that is experiencing an increase in students since the COVID-19 pandemic. Most community colleges are seeing either stagnant or decreasing enrollment numbers, according to a recent state census.
While things are improving, there is still work to do. "We're not back to where we were pre-COVID. We've all been pretty proud of what we've been able to accomplish,” said Schumacher.
In another conversation with The News Messenger, Schumacher talked about the numbers with more specifics. In this school year, enrollment numbers increased to over 2,100, about 2.5% more full-time equivalents than the last school year. Full-time equivalents are a calculation that averages total student credit hours taken across all students and reorganized to how many full-time students it would take to be taking that many credits. This year there are 525 full-time equivalents. In 2019, there were 2,278 students with 620 full-time equivalents.
The current plan to increase enrollment is to make big changes to the school’s admissions office policies, largely an effort to make it easier for students to enroll in the first place. The school is also working to improve the relationships it has with its current students. Schumacher noted that, “We’ve got a little work to do.”
Another project that the school hopes will drive enrollment is an expansion to the college’s Welding program, which had been scaled down in recent years.
The community has been demanding more instruction in welding, which is the driving force behind the expansion. Both potential students and local employers are asking for more welding instruction.
Schumacher also commented on this topic, "This whole welding thing came up because of the community involvement. This was a no-brainer, when we had a little bit of capital."
More information on Terra State Community College can be found on the school’s website.