This content was published: May 27, 1997. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC Spring Term Enrollment Shows Slight Growth
Photos and Story by Mark Evertz
At the end of the fourth week of spring term, enrollment is up very slightly at PCC. The number for full-time-equivalent enrollments, which is a standard method used for gauging enrollment in college classes, is up .8 percent from last year at the same time. The number of students taking classes, or unduplicated headcount, is up 1.4 percent from the same time last year.
The full-time-equivalent enrollment shows 5003 enrollments, compared to 4964 last spring. By the close of the fourth week of spring term, 31,964 students were enrolled in classes, compared to 31,532 the previous year.
The modest enrollment increases are seen in the college’s professional and technical career training programs, up 1.8 percent from last spring. Enrollment in lower-division transfer courses, however, is down 3.8 percent from the same time last year.
Increases were also seen in the college’s non-traditional programs — training for career upgrading, continuing education and apprenticeship courses — but the growth is based on much smaller numbers. For example, apprenticeship jumped from 141 to 187 full-time-equivalent enrollments, up 32 percent from the same time last year.
Susan Bach, director of Institutional Research, says the pattern of reduced or static full-time enrollment is possibly a reflection of the area’s current solid economy and low unemployment. "In strong economic cycles, enrollment tends to fall back somewhat because people are working, not going to school."
By campus, Sylvania Campus in Southwest Portland has had the largest enrollment drop in college lower-division transfer classes — down 5.2 percent in full-time-equivalent enrollments from last year at the same time. But professional and technical programs are up 4.2 percent from last year. Headcount numbers are also down slightly at Sylvania this spring with 10,530 enrolled, compared to 10,850 last year.
At Cascade Campus in North Portland, the lower-division transfer enrollments are slightly lower than last year at the same time, 1.3 percent. Professional and technical career programs are also down by 2.7 percent from last year. At the same time, headcount is up at Cascade 5.8 percent: 4,262 students are enrolled in classes, compared to last spring’s enrollment of 4,029.
At Rock Creek in Washington County, lower-division transfer classes have dipped 1.6 percent from last spring. But professional and technical programs have experienced a strong jump, up 9.5 percent from last spring at the same time. A look at student enrollment at Rock Creek also shows a hefty increase from last year — up 7.1 percent. At the end of fourth week, 4,426 were taking classes, compared to 4,131 last year.
Open Campus programs at PCC show a very slight increase at the end of week four of spring term — full-time-equivalent enrollments are 1,222, an increase of 0.3 percent. Headcount is also up slightly: at 16,544, there is a 1.8 percent increase from last year at the same time.