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Barton reports record enrollment
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By Tribune staff

 

Barton Community College’s enrollment figures show an overall 8 percent increase for summer and fall 2010, college officials announced Friday.

Barton President Dr. Carl Heilman said the growth proves Barton’s continued success, especially coming on the heels of a 10 percent enrollment growth in the preceding year.

The credit hours generated by in-state students increased by 7 percent for the fall 2010 semester and 6 percent for the year, while out-of-state hours were up 8.5 percent for the semester and 11 percent for the year, Barton’s Dean of Administration Mark Dean reported.

Heilman sees the increasing enrollment as a positive response to the quality of Barton’s offerings. "Although a number of factors have contributed to Barton’s growth — increasing online learning opportunities; expanding services to businesses and industries; Fort Riley population growth; and higher levels of unemployment/underemployment, Barton’s sound reputation for presenting quality learning opportunities is the key factor," he said.

"This factor is substantiated in student and public surveys and led to Barton’s national top 50 ranking that came out earlier this year."

Online enrollment showed the greatest growth with a credit-hour increase of 31 percent for summer and fall 2010 over last year’s enrollment. Barton’s online enrollment for summer 2010 totaled 6,790 credit hours. That figure is 1,678 hours higher than last year’s summer online enrollment of 5,112. Barton’s fall 2010 online enrollment totaled 12,994 credit hours, a total of 3,070 hours more than last fall’s 9,924.

Overall, the college’s Barton County Campus, Fort Riley Campus and online enrollment for fall 2010 resulted in 47,777 credit hours, up 3,532 from last year’s fall semester hours of 44,245. Barton’s credit-hour enrollments numbering 47,777 for fall 2010 are the college’s highest on record.

"Recent assessments indicate that Barton will continue to grow in enrollment and we look forward to the challenges and opportunities that this will present," Heilman said.