FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FALL ENROLLMENT CONTINUES TO CLIMB AT
VIRGINIA’S COMMUNITY COLLEGES

RICHMOND, VA, September 24, 2002 – Enrollment continues to climb at Virginia’s community colleges, with preliminary estimates showing increases of 4.4 percent in full-time-equivalent enrollment system-wide this fall. In addition, Danville Community College's full-time equivalent enrollment increase of 8.6 percent is expected to exceed the VCCS average.

            That growth is projected through the 2002-2003 year, representing the sixth consecutive year of 4 percent or higher increases in full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment for the system.  Last year’s increase in FTE enrollment was nearly 8 percent.

            Virginia’s 23 community colleges are enrolling an estimated 82,123 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students this fall, an increase of 3,440, or 4.4 percent, over last year. The numbers represent 148,777 individuals enrolled in at least one credit course.

About three-quarters of Virginia community college students attend part time. The full-time-equivalent enrollment, upon which state funding is based, represents the number of students there would be if each took a full load – 15 credits – in two subsequent semesters, or 30 credits a year.

            The new estimates mean Virginia’s community colleges will have served an additional 10,000 FTE students in two years. Last year, an additional 6,577 students were served, representing more than 80 percent of the total enrollment growth for the Commonwealth.

            “Virginia’s community colleges ARE the point of access for Virginians seeking quality higher education and workforce training services,” says Glenn DuBois, chancellor of the VCCS. “Virginians are realizing that their best educational bargain is right in their own community.”

            Increasing enrollment makes the need for capital projects included in the $900 million higher education general obligation bond even more critical, Dr. DuBois says.  More than $159 million of the bond package would fund new construction, renovation, heating and air conditioning and handicapped accessibility projects at each of Virginia’s 23 community colleges.

There are 23 community colleges located on 40 campuses serving every region of the Commonwealth. Among those with the largest FTE enrollment estimates this fall are Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, 12.9% increase; Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown and Fauquier, 12.6% increase; Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, 20.8% increase. Other community colleges with large increases include Dabney S. Lancaster Community College in Clifton Forge, 10.1 percent; Danville Community College, 8.6 percent; Piedmont Virginia Community College, 8.8 percent; and Virginia Western Community College, 9.5 percent.

On an annual basis, more than 234,000 individual students took credit courses at Virginia’s community colleges during 2001-2002, and another 125,000 Virginians were served through workforce training programs.