Spring Enrollment Surges at Valley, Pierce Colleges

Spring semester enrollment at both Valley College and Pierce College has jumped 20%, which officials attribute to a new compressed class schedule that is more closely aligned with that of Cal State Northridge.

By Monday, the first day of the 15-week spring semester, 15,721 students were enrolled at Valley College, compared with 13,228 on the first day of the spring 2000 semester. Another 2,500 students are expected to enroll in coming weeks, boosting final enrollment to about 18,000 on the Valley Glen campus, officials said.

At Pierce College, enrollment was 14,505, compared with 12,055 last spring. Officials expect another 2,000 students to sign up at the Woodland Hills campus.

Since the two campuses switched from 18- to 15-week semesters last fall, both colleges have had dramatic enrollment increases. Comparing fall 2000 to fall 1999, enrollment increased about 20% at both campuses.

The shorter semester means the schools begin a week after CSUN, thus allowing Cal State students to sign up for undergraduate classes at Valley or Pierce that they were unable to get at CSUN.

To compensate for the shorter semester, class sessions are longer, so the total number of hours remains the same as at other Los Angeles Community College District schools.

Spring enrollment was up 13.5% at Sylmar’s Mission College, the third community college district campus in the San Fernando Valley, according to Carlos Nava, vice president of student services. Mission, which operates on a traditional semester schedule, had 7,127 students as of Friday, compared with 6,282 the previous spring, Nava said.

College of the Canyons, where spring classes began Jan. 22, recorded a 7.9% increase over last spring, with 9,658 students enrolled, compared with 8,955 last year. As of Tuesday, enrollment was 10,412 and will probably hit 11,000 before the semester is over, said Sue Bozman, spokeswoman for the Valencia college.

Glendale Community College, where the semester started Jan. 16, has about 300 more students this spring. As of Tuesday, the campus had 15,440 enrolled, compared with 15,142 students at the same time last year.

At Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, 11,109 students had signed up by the first day of the semester, Jan. 29. Figures for spring 2000 were not available, but officials said any growth is small.

“I don’t think we’ve grown a lot, nor have we lost a lot. We’re stable,” said Steve Standerfer, public relations director.