HCC Enrollment Down This Semester
Everything may seem fine and dandy at Housatonic Community College from the student perspective, but is it really? According to Janice M Schaeffler, the Director of Institutional Research and Adjunct Instructor of Statistics, school enrollment has dropped by a total of 7.7 percent this semester.
This can affect students and staff in a big way. If enrollment continues to drop, staff members and students employed through work-study programs could face job cutbacks. With fewer students attending HCC the need for professors and support staff will diminish. If this downward trend continues some of the less popular required classes could be dropped from the current program. In a worst case scenario HCC itself could one day cease to exist.
Tuition paid by students along with state funding and private donations helps to keep the school up and running; if there is a cut to to school income then there will be cuts made to programs. There is a possibility of enrollment going back up.
Robert Ballard, an assistant to the Academic Dean, a second semester student at HCC said, “I do [believe that there is a chance enrollment will increase]. All of the new programs being started by HCC should attract more students. The manufacturing and engineering programs are basically brand new and that alone made more high school graduates enroll in HCC.”
“I don’t [see the enrollment decreasing furthermore] I am the second person in my family to attend HCC because of the great things I heard from my brother.. Plus like I said before, new programs will eventually be added and also the current programs will only continue growing,” Ballard said.
The new state initiative “Go Back To Get Ahead” program is designed to encourage former Connecticut State College students to re-enroll in school. If they do they will receive discounted tuition costs, perhaps this program will help rejuvenate enrollment numbers statewide. Only time will tell.