Enrollment growth still a priority for SWCC

In the annual student survey and demographics report, Southwestern Community College Dean of Student Services Kim Bishop shared that overall enrollment and diversity have increased from last year, while enrollment outside the region remains stagnant.

Each year, SWCC reviews student data to see how the current year compares to the decade prior. To do so, numbers are pulled from state and federal reports, as well as a student survey sent out every year.

According to state and federal reports, SWCC has seen a 2.4% enrollment increase and 4.6% credit hour increase from last fall, bringing totals to 1,605 students and 14,866 credit hours. In the past 10 years, enrollment and credit hours were highest in 2016 with 1,646 students and 15,643 credit hours.

A majority of these students are in programs focusing on arts and sciences. Reports show that only one-third of students are in career and technical programs, while two-thirds are in arts and sciences.

Of the students attending SWCC, the majority remains high school students gaining dual credits. The past school year saw 861 students, 54% of enrollment. Sophomores were 21% and freshmen were 24%, while an additional 1% were unclassified students. Bishop said the goal is to grow SWCC’s college-aged population.

“Always continuing, as we talked about, how are we going to grow our non-high school enrollment,” Bishop said. “Through our strategic plan, that’s where we’re looking at adding some of our new sports teams, potentially some new academic numbers as well so we can increase those numbers.”

Full-time students were only down by one, while part-time students increased by 40 students. Enrollment by gender remains consistent, with about 60% of students identifying as female and 40% as male.

Ethnic diversity in the SWCC student population has increased by 4.4%, with the current enrollment seeing 80% white students, 9.8% Hispanic or Latino and 3.4% Black.

“For ethnic background, I think this is really encouraging, we continue to become a more diverse campus,” Bishop said. “Our Hispanic and Black or African American populations both have increased by 2% over last year, so we are seeing a more diverse student population coming and those numbers changing as well. We’re taking that as a win.”

Enrollment by county remains consistent, with the top three counties represented being Union County at 32.4%, Clarke County at 13.95% and Montgomery at 10.6%. Only 14.2% of students enrolled are from outside Region 14, the same percentage as last year. This is something the college is hoping to change.

“Once again, as we look at how we’re going to grow our outside enrollment, that’s a number that we want to see increase too,” Bishop said. “Within athletic programs, trying to attract students outside of our area that will come and participate in those as well.”

The college hopes an increase in students in athletic programs will also increase the amount of students living in residence halls. Capacity of on-campus living is 240 students, while only 190 currently reside on campus. Of the 744 non-high school students, a majority of them continue to live at home and commute to school, according to the student surveys. In fact, being close to home is a large reason why students choose to attend SWCC.

“Our students want to be close to home; they like that proximity. It’s interesting, as we have students choosing to leave the dorms more and more, you’re hearing that they just want to stay home,” Bishop said. “Close to home is definitely something that’s appealing to our students.”

Students attending SWCC also have a high retention rate, with this past year’s being the highest the college has had a in a while.

“We have a very strong retention rate at 47.3%. That was our highest, so really pleased with that number from fall to fall. Our students are returning; they’re liking their experience and coming back,” Bishop said. “Same with our fall to spring, very high with 86.4% fall-to-spring retention. If we can get them here, we’re keeping them from semester to semester and then year to year.”

Financially, a majority of students are receiving outside help, whether it be from loans, federal or state grants or scholarships. About 84% of SWCC students receive some sort of financial assistance. This year, 284 education foundation scholarships were awarded. The average award was $1,567, with a total of $614,228 being awarded.

Though happy with the data this year, the college hopes to continue to see higher numbers in student enrollment and a more diverse population in the near future, furthered by various additions to the campus via the strategic plan.