March 7 , 2006
NEWSVariables impact college enrollment
According to the MCC Office of Research and Planning, student enrollment for the spring of 2006 has decreased by 1,827 students since the spring of 2005.
The number of students attending college is not only decreasing at MCC but in colleges and universities across the district as well.
According to Elizabeth Larson, the director of research for MCC’s Research and Planning office, it can be a variety of reasons.
“This is the first year we have experienced a decrease in student enrollment so it is hard to pinpoint exactly what is causing it,” Larson said.
A decrease in student enrollment can mean fewer jobs for faculty and higher tuition rates for students.
There are many different areas in student statistics that have decreased here at MCC that have contributed to the low enrollment for the 2005-2006 school year.
According to MCC’s office of research and planning, full-time student enrollment had been increasing over the last four years but has decreased in 2005. Part time enrollment has remained consistent.
For students classified as out of state, full time enrollment can be too expensive to afford. For out of state students one through six credits cost $85 per credit and 7 or more credits cost $258 per credit. In-state tuition is $60 per credit hour no matter if the student is enrolled full or part time. According to these numbers, it costs an out of state student four times as much to enroll full time.
Not only are students enrolling part time instead of full time, they are also enrolling in more online classes rather then attending class. Competition with private schools who are offering more online classes is also a factor in enrollment decrease.
“It is more convenient for students who work to take online courses so they can complete their requirements at their own time. Whenever online courses are available they fill up fast,” said Sonia Filan, the director of institutional advancement.
According to the US Department of Labor statistics Arizona’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the nation at 4.8%, the lowest it has been in nine years. Tanya Alsherif, a full-time student and a part-time basketball coach, believes that fewer students are attending school because of work.
“I have a lot of friends who have either dropped out of school to work full time or have to work while going to school, so they only attend part time,” Alsherif said.
With more job opportunities arising more students are choosing work instead of school.
“When the economy is good, enrollment throughout the district tends to go down,” Filan added. “I have talked to many instructors who have talked to students who dropped out of their classes and the majority of students say it is because they had gotten jobs.”
Not only is there a decrease in full-time students, the number of undergraduate students with MCC transfer credits that enroll at Arizona universities have increased from Fall 2000 to Fall 2004 by 1,625 students. The high transfer rate at MCC shows that more and more students are now attending or plan on attending a university rather than a community college.
A few other areas of decline in students enrolled at MCC are a decrease in the percentage of students that attend to improve career options, and in male and people of white ethnicity enrollment over the last year as well.
“We are currently working on finding out what exactly is causing the decrease in school enrollment,” Larson said.