FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2008
Contact Ben Chambers, (770) 537-5756

WCTC ENROLLMENT SOARS FOR WINTER QUARTER

The enrollment increases keep coming for West Central Technical College, with winter quarter enrollment up over 17 percent from last year. Fall enrollment was up about 17 percent as well.

“We are seeing phenomenal growth in credit students,” President Dr. Skip Sullivan said, “and looking ahead, we see this growth continuing. Our College is at a great place right now where we are able to provide students with the education they want to get the career they want.”

Raw numbers show 533 more students enrolled over this time last year. Total credit enrollment is 3,544, with growth spread across all four campuses.

“I really can’t point to a single campus, a single program or a single group of programs that accounts for the growth,” Vice President of Student Affairs Eddie Gore said. “If you look at the numbers broken down by campus, every campus is up, with the lowest increase being 13 percent.”

Of West Central’s stand-alone campuses, Carroll County saw the biggest increase. Students attending classes in Carrollton number 1,271, up over 20 percent from last winter. Those numbers include 49 students new to the Carrollton campus because the Electronics Technology program relocated there from the school’s Murphy Campus.

The Coweta Campus in Newnan – housed in a facility shared with the Coweta County Schools – increased 43 percent, but still shows the lowest attendance at 436 students. Gore said attendance there is up because of new programs now offered in Newnan, including cosmetology and automotive technology.

“Our internal targets were for winter quarter enrollment to equal fall quarter enrollment – historically there has been a drop – and these numbers show we did that,” Gore said. “There will be some fluctuation in totals, but right now we are up about 30 students over fall quarter.”

Sullivan lauded faculty and staff for their performance.

“We are looking at two consecutive quarters of about 17 percent enrollment increase,” he said. “That puts a strain on everyone, from financial aid to bookstores to libraries and facility maintenance. The way our employees have responded has been terrific.”

Looking ahead, Sullivan said increased program offerings at the Coweta Campus should provide an additional boost next fall. Additionally, in 2009, plans are for a new $9 million facility, the College and Career Institute, to open on the Douglas Campus.

“We look down the road and everything points to our continued growth,” Sullivan said. “Our challenge will be to manage the growth in making sure we can still provide the quality education our students are counting on us to provide.”

West Central Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas and Haralson counties, offers over 90 associate degree, diploma and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Central last year served over 10,000 students including credit enrollment, adult education, ESL classes, continuing education and corporate training.

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