In what board member Tim Riggan said was one of the best reports trustees receive, Western Texas College’s spring semester contact hours are up, even though overall enrollment is down.
The college had 2,304 students taking 370,221 semester hours for the spring semester, which also included the fall flex and midwinter sessions. In 2016, the college had 2,306 students enrolled taking 367,236 semester hours.
Of the total enrollment, 579 students are listed as full-time and 314 students are currently on the meal plan.
“I would say between 80 to 85 percent of the kids on the plan are eating,” said Chief Financial Officer Patricia Claxton.
The number of returning sophomores also increased this spring.
This year, 545 sophomores are enrolled, up from 431 in 2016 and 378 in 2015.
Riggan said he was impressed with how many sophomores returned for the spring semester.
“We are doing something right,” he said. “That is a good number.”
“That shows the experience they are having at WTC. They want to come back,” said Britt Canada, the college’s dean of institutional research and effectiveness.
One area that is down was the number of Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmates enrolled. This semester, 154 inmates are enrolled, down from 213 a year ago.
The inmates are also counted in the Scurry County enrollment total, which was 477 this semester, down from 527 a year ago.
The Opportunity Waiver program had 98 participants and $71,557 in tuition was waived.