Spring enrollment at KC drops again

Spring 2006 numbers have been tallied and enrollment at Kilgore College topped out at 4,637 students, a 3.6 percent decrease from last spring’s 4,811.

While spring registration has slowly tapered off over the last three semesters from the record enrollment of 4,947 in 2004, KC numbers have remained high over the previous 10 years with almost 1,000 more students currently taking courses than in Spring 1996.

Factors for the decline could include an improvement in the local job market or the traditional drop in registration from fall to spring that is associated with colleges across the country, according to Phyllis Stalcup, KC registrar.

“Enrollment usually drops from fall to spring,” Stalcup said. “We had seven semesters without a drop in enrollment that ended in with Fall 2005. This may simply be a leveling out.”

While overall enrollment may be leveling out, one statistic involved with the process continues to skyrocket – online registration.

With more than 1,254 students logging on and registering for Christmas 2005 mini-semester and current spring classes through KC Connect, electronic registration is up 60 percent from the same numbers in Spring 2004. The increased online participation results in shorter lines for students registering in person and allows those registering early to alleviate potential scheduling woes far in advance of the first class day.

Also, registration continues at KCLongview for the “Full Throttle” program, a 10-week shortened semester introduced last fall. Classes begin Feb. 20 but numbers for the classes count toward the Summer 2006 semester, versus this spring.