Cincinnati State’s enrollment reaches another peak
December 4, 2009
Enrollment at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College continues to surge.
As of the close of the official reporting period for the Late Fall Term, enrollment was 10,622 – a 24 percent increase over the same period in 2008.
This marks the third consecutive term in which Cincinnati State has recorded growth of more than 20 percent over 2008 levels.
Enrollment topped the 10,000 mark for the first time in the Early Fall Term this year, and is now at an all-time high.
Last year at this time Cincinnati State had 8,578 students.
“We are pleased that so many Tri-State residents are turning to Cincinnati State, particularly in this troubled economic environment,’’ said Dr. John Henderson, interim president of Cincinnati State.
“I’m proud of the way our faculty and staff have worked to enable us to absorb more than 2,000 students in the space of a year,’’ Henderson said. “We’re doing our level best to continue to provide high quality services, and to keep Cincinnati State one of the most affordable educational options in the region.’’
Cincinnati State’s faculty members have taken on additional classes and the College has added instructors to handle the increased demand, according to Academic Vice President Dr. Monica Posey. Because a large percentage of its students hold jobs and have families of their own, she noted, Cincinnati State has historically made heavy use of its campus in the evenings as well as the daytime. That has helped the College cope with the recent surge in enrollment, she said. But parking has nonetheless been a problem in recent months, and scheduling classes has become more challenging because of demands on limited classroom space.
Anne Foster, director of Cincinnati State’s Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, said enrollment growth in the Late Fall Term was particularly strong among those above age 25. Enrollment rose 33 percent (over the same period in 2008) for those age 25-29; 32 percent for those age 30-39; 35 percent for those age 40-49 and 38 percent for those age 50-59.
Among those age 20 and under, enrollment growth for Late Fall term was 16 percent, while for those 21-24 it grew 15 percent.
These and other data, Foster said, suggest that economic conditions are continuing to play an important role in the growth at Cincinnati State and other community colleges across the country. Not only are community colleges seen as a more cost-effective option than traditional four-year schools, most offer programs and curriculum that are heavily focused toward the workplace. Cincinnati State in particular has one of the largest co-op programs in the nation.
Anthony Cruz, Dean of Enrollment & Student Development, said admissions counselors have noticed that an increasing number of “traditional’’ students are exploring Cincinnati State and other community colleges as a pathway to the first two years of what they expect to be a longer college experience.
Even though Cincinnati State operates on an academic calendar based on five terms (each about nine and a half weeks in length), rather than the quarters or semesters found at most colleges and universities, it has negotiated articulation agreements with regional institutions that ensure that most course credits will transfer.
Cincinnati State is planning to convert to a semester system in 2012.
