Courier

Media Credit: Linus Shentu Students crowd a hall on the third floor of the C Building on Wednesday afternoon.

Enrollment at PCC has increased by an unprecedented 11 percent from the spring 2008 semester.

As of Feb 16, enrollment has jumped from 21,459 students to 23,950, and the increase is not exclusive to PCC, officials said.

Interim Dean of Enrollment Management, Dr. Allen Dooley believes that this could be due in part to section cuts at other colleges. Dooley pointed out, "When there are fewer classes at other schools in the area it draws students to PCC who can't find classes elsewhere."

On Feb 26, Dooley responded to a journalism class over the announcement of impending state budget cuts at a time when enrollment is on a steady climb. Currently PCC has exceeded its enrollment cap, meaning that the state is not offering funding for any students admitted over the limit. This comes at a time when enrollment is up from the usual 2 percent in growth seen in past semesters.

Some community colleges have already cut winter or summer interim semesters from their calendars all together due to the high demand for class sections and no way to fund them, Dooley said.

Dooley told students not to worry yet.

"We historically have had a conservative financial approach," he said, explaining that the school has enough money saved to "maintain a zero loss approach" throughout the fall 2009 semester. He explained that for now the college will continue "trying to support the same number of sections as in past years and hope that things improve." About 2,400 sections were available for the spring semester, he added, the same as fall.

And what if things do not improve?

Dooley assured students that in the event that PCC actually has to begin cutting classes from its catalog, high-demand capstone classes such as English and Mathematics, as well as "key career building classes", will most likely be the last on the chopping block.

On a positive note, Dooley pointed out that the recent influx of students in conjunction with the declining availability of classroom space has caused an increase in classes being more efficiently attended.

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