×

ACC spring enrollment down slightly

ALPENA — Spring enrollment for Alpena Community College is down 1.7 percent. College President Don MacMaster discussed the numbers during Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting.

“After the purge for nonpayment, which cuts into the revenue, enrollment is down 1.7 percent in head count compared to spring semester 2017,” he said.

Credit hours are down 5.6 percent and they are 0.01 percent below budget.

“That’s about $2,900,” MacMaster said. “Dual enrollment continues to trend up and continuing students average numbers of contact hours are down. College staff members are working together to improve retention. That’s the next area of focus for us: how do we do the best job we can retaining the students we get?”

Staff soon will begin to register direct or concurrent credit in partnership with Alpena Public Schools, Alcona Community Schools and Iosco RESA.

An additional 400-450 career and technical education students who each have taken one college credit from ACC will be added to the spring semester 2018 enrollment through direct or concurrent credit. None of these additional enrollments is reflected in the numbers reported, he said.

Board Chairman John Briggs said he was curious to find out where the college falls short of expectations.

“I’m wondering where our biggest drop off is,” he said.

MacMaster said the college is exploring that issue.

“One of the surprising things is we budgeted to be down in three percent. We exceeded that slightly in the fall and we came into the good. We’re down 5.6 percent in contact hours and a higher number of out of district students take full loads. This makes us balance out. This tells us the occupational programs are strong. They’re an important piece of enrollment. Dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment are huge for us. We’re doing well there.”

He does think staff will home in on retention and ensure communication with them will be key.

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today