Enrollment Up 9% at Valley’s 2-Year Colleges

Community college enrollment in the San Fernando Valley rose by 9% over last year on the first day of classes, according to figures released Tuesday by Los Angeles district administrators.

Administrators credit new scheduling techniques, advance mailings of class schedules and increased instructional spending for an increase in enrollment at Valley, Mission and Pierce colleges.

The Valley schools reflect a districtwide trend, in which enrollment grew from 90,054 last year to 93,123 for the fall semester.

With an 11% increase over last year, 22-acre Mission College--the smallest in the nine-campus Los Angeles Community College District--has grown faster than any other campus in the Valley. As of Monday, 5,725 students had registered at Mission College. Because of its limited size, officials are using off-campus sites to hold classes and have rearranged class schedules to accommodate more students.

“We went to a block time schedule,” Interim President Thomas Oliver said. Classes at Mission that once were held three times a week for one hour will be held twice a week for 1 1/2 hours, giving schedulers more flexibility to offer core classes such as math and English at different times.

A night program also was opened in North Hills at Monroe High School, which counted an enrollment of about 700 students, Oliver said.

Valley College, which has used a block schedule for several semesters, increased enrollment by about 1%, which is below the district average. But Valley administrators expect the number to grow over the next few days of registration.

By Monday, 14,431 students had enrolled at Valley College.

To urge students to enroll earlier, Valley College administrators combined summer and fall enrollment to allow students to plan further ahead.

Pierce administrators used the same strategy, mailing schedules to 125,000 prospective students three weeks earlier than they did last year. With 13,178 students, Pierce’s enrollment is up 5.3% over last year.

“We expect to get another 2%,” said Joy McCaslin, vice president of student services. In addition to publishing fall schedules earlier, Pierce mailed 60,000 postcard reminders to register for classes and placed ads in local newspapers.

“We’re really encouraged,” McCaslin said. “As we speak, students are standing in line at the campus center adding classes.”