Enrollment Dips at 2 Community Colleges
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As the spring semester began Monday at three San Fernando Valley community colleges, only one--Mission College in Sylmar--reported an enrollment increase over last spring, while the other two--Pierce in Woodland Hills and Valley in Van Nuys, each reported slight decreases in enrollment.
However, both Pierce and Valley expect their numbers to equal or surpass those of last spring and say that power outages caused by recent storms halted their admissions operations for a time last week.
Based on preliminary enrollment by the end of the day Friday--the most recent figures available--Mission College posted a 2% increase over spring 1996, with 5,250 students enrolled.
Carlos Nava, dean of student services, said Monday that the final spring figures should be a great deal higher. When enrollment is complete in two weeks, he said he expects the final figure to be approximately 6,500 students.
Nava said the college made an effort to encourage local high school students to take college classes before they graduate. He also said he has heard that the college is “being discovered for the first time by a lot of students.”
Valley College’s preliminary enrollment figures as of Friday showed a decrease from last year, according to college spokeswoman Shannon Stack, with 13,407 students enrolled this semester compared with 13,953 in spring 1996. However, campus officials expect final spring enrollment to equal that of 1996.
A two-day power outage last week at Valley College knocked out campus computers and lights and halted admissions, Stack said.
Pierce College posted a small enrollment decrease, with 12,733 students enrolled compared with 13,007 in spring 1996.
Pierce officials blamed computer problems Friday afternoon as the likely cause of the decrease and said they are optimistic the final number will be higher.
“We had to turn people away on Friday,” said Shelley Gerstal, associate dean of admissions and records. “And a lot of those came back on Saturday. I think that will bring us back up.”
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