GCC hopes for boost in summer enrollment

Glendale Community College hopes to increase the number of summer students this year to make up for a shortfall in spring enrollment figures.

College officials reported last week they estimate they served about 600 fewer students than hoped.

Mary Mirch, vice president of instructional services for Glendale Community College, said the Glendale campus isn’t alone on this issue.

“One or two colleges are claiming their enrollment is up, but we’re not seeing it statewide,” she told college trustees. “In addition to that, the economy’s improving, and when the economy gets better, individuals choose to go to work as opposed to necessarily continue with classes,” she said.

When the spring semester wraps up early this June, the college expects to have served about the equivalent of 6,614 full-time students, down from 7,192 during the spring of the 2012-13 academic year. The figures include both full-time and part-time students.

Those figures contribute to a 1.2% overall enrollment dip for 2013-14.

The 2014 summer program begins June 23 and lasts through July 31, and the college plans to offer more than 300 course sections during that time, Mirch said, spanning from chemistry to economics to theatre arts.

“Students will have the opportunity to take more than one class if it helps them meet their needs,” she added.

College officials have been keeping a close eye on enrollment figures this year — the first the campus has seen in several where the state didn’t make significant cuts to their education budget.

Several years of detrimental cuts left the college reeling, and as a result, it cut class offerings, landing thousands of students on lengthy waitlists.

But now as the campus emerges from those reductions, officials say they plan on offering more classes and hopes for increased enrollment for the next academic year.

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Follow Kelly Corrigan on Twitter: @kellymcorrigan.

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