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Bad Economy - Booming SFCC Enrollment

Most High School Grads Spend First 2 Years Here

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Students listen to their teacher Davida Austin during a Statistics class at South Florida Community College on Wednesday in Avon Park.

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By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: March 27, 2008

AVON PARK — With the economy down, the classrooms at South Florida Community College are full.

"Trends show that enrollment and the economy are almost a reflection of each other," said SFCC President Norm Stephens. "Also as unemployment rates increase so does community college enrollment. When people are out of work, they head back to school … Then, when the economy turns, they are prepared to improve their employment situations."

Enrollment at SFCC is up about 15 percent over last year, which is among the highest of the state's 28 community colleges, Stephens said.

About 80 percent of college-bound high school graduates in the area go to SFCC for two years. Stephens said this statistic has been true for many years, but more students are choosing the community college route because four-year universities are limiting their enrollment.

"Students are having more difficulty getting into four-year universities," Stephens said. "Next fall, we expect to have even more traditional students attending community college."

SFCC student Amanda Jones, of Avon Park, said she likes the convenient location close to home.
"A lot of people I know who went away right after high school are regretting it," said Jones, 20. "I figure it's better to get as much done here as I can, then decide where to go."

Josh Saucier, 18, said SFCC is the economical choice for him.

"I am paying for college myself, so this was a good, low-cost choice," said Saucier, who has plans to eventually transfer to a four-year university. "I get the same first two years of education here as I could at a university, but a lot cheaper."

Stephens said traditional students are not the only group with high enrollment; adult education classes have higher enrollment than years past.

"We had a very large adult education program several years ago, and after the hurricanes, those people went away, and now they are coming back," Stephens said. "That area (adult education) actually grew more than our traditional students."

Stephens said the college accommodates the 15 percent growth with more adjunct faculty and more sections of popular classes.

"We don't turn away students," Stephens said. "We feel very strongly that we need to keep our doors open to everyone, especially in these difficult times."

Classes at SFCC average about 25 students, so Stephens said adding a few more is not usually a problem or additional sections of a course are added.

"We are fortunate that, if the class is full, the tuition collected offsets the cost of adding the new section," Stephens said.

Caitlin Houk, of Miami, said she has not seen the class size fluctuate with the increase in enrollment, which is one of the things that attracted her to SFCC.

"I like the small classes of about 20 students," Houk said. "You get to interact more with the professors than if you were in a class of 100 people like at a university."

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