HCC Spring Enrollment Up Fourteen Percent

Hopkinsville Community College (HCC) announced today that enrollment for its 2010 spring term was up 14.1 percent compared with the same time last year. The college had a headcount of 3,682 students taking classes from January to May, compared with 3,228 people in spring 2009.

14 percent is a significant headcount increase, but if you look at those numbers as full-time equivalents taking 15 credit hours, the increase is actually 22.8 percent, said HCC President James Selbe. Citizens in our region are looking to HCC to help them prepare for the economic turnaround. When the job market rebounds, the Pennyrile will have a highly educated and trained population.

The increase continues a trend and sets a new spring headcount record for the college. Enrollment for fall 2009 was up 16.1 percent over fall 2008, which represented the second largest annual enrollment increase since HCC joined the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) in 1998, and the largest since 2000.

We anticipate enrollment to continue to trend upward with the recent announcement of tuition lock-in rates, Selbe added. This will be an incentive for those thinking of starting classes to get enrolled now at the lower rate. KCTCS recently announced a $5 per credit hour tuition increase for the 2010-11 school year, increasing credits from $125 to $130. During that time, the KCTCS board of regents also approved a provision that allows students enrolled at a KCTCS college in fall 2010 or spring 2011 who re-enroll in 2011-12 to maintain the 2010-11 tuition rate.

Continued increases could eventually strain the system. HCC, along with the other KCTCS institutions around the state, have endured numerous budget cuts over the last few years while serving more and more students.