Countywide : Spring Enrollment Is Up at 3 Colleges

Enrollment for the spring semester is up at the county’s three community colleges compared to last year, according to figures released after the close of registration deadlines this week.

At Moorpark College, enrollment increased from 11,280 in the spring of 1990 to 11,988 this spring. The 708 additional students amount to an increase of 6.27%, a record for spring enrollment, Moorpark spokesman Gerry Olsen said.

Fall semester enrollment is usually higher than the spring, Olsen said.

At Oxnard College, the number of students grew from 5,782 last spring to 6,493 this year, said Virginia Leon, director of institutional advancement. The growth may be due in part to the recession, Leon said.

“Whenever there is a recession, people who are laid off or looking for a change in their economic status tend to enroll in classes, looking for career changes or retraining,” she said.

At Ventura College, spring enrollment this year is 11,890, an increase of about 100 students over last year, registrar Joan Halk said. In addition, the number of class hours that students are taking has increased by about 6%.

State funding to community colleges is based on the number of hours students are enrolled, Halk said.