Updated Jan. 25, 2013:
Final numbers showed that 3,943 students enrolled at MCCC winter semester, down 4 percent from last winter. Here is the final enrollment:
2012 2013 % change
Headcount 4,151 3,943 – 4%
Credit Hours 34,865 33,310 – 4.5%
Contact Hours 39,571 37,991 – 5%
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Original story:
MCCC’s enrollment numbers are down again, along with most of the other Michigan community colleges.
MCCC’s enrollment for winter semester declined 6.5 percent in credit hours and 8 percent in number of students, according to Registrar Tracy Vogt.
Enrollment as of Jan. 11 was 3,795, compared to 4,125 at the same time last year.
Of the 27 community colleges that reported enrollment figures to the state association of college registrars, there was an overall average drop of 5.1 percent in credit hours and 4.1 percent in students enrolled as of Jan. 11.
Among other Southeast Michigan community colleges, Washtenaw enrollment dropped 5.8 percent, Schoolcraft was even with the year before, Jackson was down 8.3 percent, and Henry Ford was up .3 percent.
The college is searching for strategies to get potential students in the door.
Mark Hall, director of Admissions and Guidance Services, has been busy implementing programs designed to reach more potential students.
“We’ve increased our recruiting efforts at all area high schools,” Hall said. “We’ve doubled our visits.”
MCCC has expanded efforts to reach potential students in the downriver area, adding Trenton, Riverview, Huron, Flat Rock, and Woodhaven high schools to the list of schools being recruited, Hall said.
“Consequently, our out-ofcounty enrollment is up,” he said.
“It is much higher than the previous year.”
Due to issues at the Whitman Center, the college also has taken action to recruit in the northwestern Ohio region as well, he said.
Hall attributes the drop in enrollment to a number of reasons.
“When the economy improves, our enrollment numbers go down,” he said.
There also are a number of programs that are set to expire, or already have, he said. The education buy-out through the auto-industry is running out, the No Worker Left Behind program has ended, and displaced workers receiving education benefits as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement are cycling out as well, Hall said.
“All of these things together lead to a drop in enrollment,” he said.
Some questions have been raised regarding the new Career Technology Building and whether or not there will be enough students to fill it.
The welding classes are doing very well, Hall said. As far as the other classes that will be offered in the CTC building, they’re doing well, but numbers will need to improve more, he said.
“Having a state-of-the-art facility will greatly improve enrollment in that area,” he said. “It will appeal to potential students seeking a degree in those fields.”
Hall said he is confident that despite the drop in enrollment, the recruitment efforts will pay off
