Cait Maitlen, director of admissions at Southwestern Community College, presented a comprehensive campus demographic study to board members during its regular meeting Tuesday.
Enrollment was down 1.7 percent from 1,574 students in the fall of 2017 to 1,547 students for the fall 2018 semester, but Maitlen said she is hopeful that, based on past trends, enrollment will increase again next year.
The majority of enrolled students intend to continue into a four year program at another school upon graduation, while others intend to finish their career or technical program and enter the workforce right away.
Maitlen said, students are getting younger at SWCC.
Maitlen said she finds the increasing number of high school students enrolled at SWCC interesting. According to the report, high school students make up 43 percent of the student population. Of those duel enrolled students, 20 percent are Career Academy students taking a year of classes to prepare them for a career in a field such as automotive repair, health sciences, information technology systems or welding.
Twenty years ago, the average overall age of a SWCC student was 27, and this year, the average age is 21. When you look at students based on their enrollment status, full-time versus part-time, the average age of part-time students is 20 and that can be fully attributed to the large population of duel enrolled high school students taking classes at SWCC, said Maitlen.
“Enrollment by gender is an interesting trend,” said Maitlen. “It’s been a little bit different this year. Forty-one percent of the population are males on campus and 59 percent are female. Whereas in the past, we saw a greater population of males.”
Forty-two percent of the students who attended SWCC in the fall of 2017 returned in the fall of 2018. From the fall 2017 semester to the spring 2018 semester, retention increased significantly and 80 percent of the students returned.
“This is a great trend to see because we have it as a goal in our strategic plan to maintain this fall to spring retention at or above 75 percent,” said Maitlen.
Other items before the board included:
•The board voted to approve the updated early retirement policy.
•The board approved the annual year end audit.
•The board voted to submit a number of academic programs for the Future Ready Iowa Last Dollar Scholarship Program.