By Brittany Hart, The Republic
bhart@therepublic.com
Spring enrollment for Ivy Tech-Columbus spiked a record 41 percent compared to last year, with 6,163 students beginning classes Monday.
School officials believe the community college's affordability is driving record enrollment.
"Given the economic times, I think people are looking more and more at a way to save money educationally," said Randy Proffitt, executive director of marketing and communications at Ivy Tech.
The enrollment leap towers over previous spring semester increases, with 4,383 students registering in 2009, 2,974 in 2008 and 2,563 in 2007.
About 68 percent of enrolled students are returning from the fall term.
"In addition to the continuing general growth, it is gratifying to see 68 percent of the students returning from the fall semester," said John Hogan, chancellor of Ivy Tech-Columbus. "Our goal is to guide students toward graduation, and we're pleased to see that more and more individuals in our service area are earning degrees."
The school's proximity to students' hometowns and the transferability of credits to most any other higher education institution also has sparked higher enrollment, Proffitt said.
"It's a great gateway to higher education for most, if not all, Hoosiers," he said.
Coping with growth
To accommodate the growing number of students, school officials have added instructors, particularly in the liberal arts, and expanded classroom seating where possible, such as adding five seats in some sections.
"We are coping with the growth," Proffitt said. "It's stretching us to the limit with respect to human resources and space."
The school is in need of more science instructors, especially for anatomy and physiology courses, which are full, Proffitt said.
The enrollment crunch also has the college finding innovative ways to offer classes.
"We're trying to be more creative in class section offerings," Proffitt said.
"We're trying to be innovative, but at the same time keeping our eye on quality in the classroom ... that's what it really is all about."
As the college stretches its local facilities as much as possible, Proffitt said they also added more sections in the outreach campuses of Seymour, North Vernon, Greensburg and Franklin to alleviate some of the burden from the Columbus region, which includes Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties and the southern portion of Johnson County.
Enrollments increased in all six counties over last year. Statewide, Ivy Tech enrollments are up 33 percent compared to the 2009 spring semester, with a record 119,773 students attending.
Possible cap
Proffitt said Ivy Tech-Columbus foresees a possible cap in the future if enrollment rates continue to increase.
"The Columbus region is in good shape for the short term, but if we continue the growth, in the long term we will have to look at new ways to accommodate it," he said.