Five 天涯社区log students posed and smiling in the lobby of the Donald Shook building

天涯社区log Enrollment Up for Third Consecutive Semester


October 6, 2022 | Campus News 天涯社区log Rolla

Enrollment at 天涯社区log is up this fall, bucking the national trend of declining enrollment among public colleges and universities.

The number of credit hours taken by 天涯社区log students is 3 percent higher this semester compared to the Fall 2021 semester 鈥 students this semester are taking 26,640 credit hours, 772 more than the 25,868 credit hours taken last fall.

In addition, there are 35 more students this year, 2,692, compared to last fall when there were 2,657 students enrolled. That is a 1.3 percent increase in total students enrolled (headcount).

Increasing enrollment has been a challenge for colleges throughout the country, according to 天涯社区log President Dr. Jon Bauer.

鈥淔or the second year in a row 鈥 and going against the trend across the country 鈥 we have seen enrollment gains in both credit hours and headcount,鈥 he said. 鈥淓veryone at East Central has a part in this work, and everyone should be thrilled with these results.鈥

天涯社区log鈥檚 enrollment over the past two years has challenged the shift toward decreasing populations.

鈥淎lthough the general trend nationwide is continued declines in enrollment,鈥 Bauer added, 鈥渁round Missouri, the results at community colleges are mixed.

鈥淪ome have seen gains this fall, while others are experiencing declines, while some are flat.鈥

天涯社区log can attribute some of the enrollment increase to strong gains in dual credit enrollment, employee focus on retention and growth at 天涯社区log in Rolla.

Bauer noted that the college鈥檚 Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) is 1,776, up from 1,725 last fall. FTE is a calculation based on total credit hours that shows how many students would be attending college if they all were full time. This year鈥檚 FTE also is higher than in 2020 when it was 1,642.

A majority of 天涯社区log students are planning to complete their Associate of Arts degree, while others are looking to directly begin their career upon completion of their program鈥檚 certificate and/or degree.

Below is a list of the top 10 programs for the fall 2022 semester:

  • Associate of Arts 鈥 1186
  • Nursing 鈥 94
  • Education 鈥 81
  • Industrial Engineering Tech 鈥 50
  • Computer Information System 鈥 49
  • Transfer Engineering 鈥 48
  • Fine Arts 鈥 40
  • Culinary Arts 鈥 36
  • Radiological Technology 鈥 29.