Merced College projected to miss growth goal

Merced College’s spring semester begins Monday and officials are expecting the enrollment to be about the same as last year, which is below the school’s target for growth.

The numbers are preliminary at this point as the census takes place a few weeks into the semester, but the enrollment is projected to grow by 10 students compared to last year, according to Mary K. Gilliland, the vice president of instruction. “This is not even a final first report number, so at this point it is truly an approximation,” she said.

Early numbers from the the fall semester had enrollment down by 2.94 percent with a head count of 10,221 students, or about 310 fewer students than the previous fall semester, according to numbers from the college. The college has a goal to grow by 2.75 percent this year, which would mean an additional 255 full-time equivalent students.

The college at the beginning of the school year added more mid-semester courses to try to bump up its numbers. Mid-semester classes are nine weeks, which is half as long as a normal class.

Gilliland said the school used local advertising to get students to enroll in those nine-week classes. She called the effort “successful.”

The college has already added some of those shorter classes for the spring semester, she said, and might throw more in the schedule of courses. She said there are other plans to increase enrollment, but those will likely not pay off this semester.

Compounding the problem is a shortage of part-time professors for math and English, which are two subjects all students need to pass before they finish their time at Merced College, she said. “This is something we experience every semester and (it) does create a challenge,” she said.

Officials have said changes to federal financial aid regulations could also be a factor in not meeting the school’s target for growth. The funding no longer covers students who repeat a course they’ve already passed that is not required for transfer to a four-year school.

Last week, President Barack Obama announced a plan that could affect Merced College enrollment numbers in the coming years. He proposed on Friday to bring the cost of two years of community college “down to zero” for all Americans, an ambitious nationwide plan based on a popular Tennessee program signed into law by that state’s Republican governor.

Officials at Merced College said they could not comment on the proposal, which would need state approval before reaching the college.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 11, 2015 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Merced College projected to miss growth goal."