HCC Enrolls 5,609 Students
Sets New Record, Up 111 percent in 12 years
BRIDGEPORT – Housatonic Community College
this semester has set a new enrollment record, registering 5,609
students at its newly expanded downtown Bridgeport campus.
The number
represents an increase of some 10.4 percent over the 5,018 students who registered
in the fall of 2008, and a 111 percent increase over the 2,653 who registered
in the fall of 1996, the college’s last semester at its old Barnum Avenue
campus in the city’s east end.
“We continue to see the impact of the economic downturn on our enrollment,” said Registrar James Connolly. “More and more people are looking at community colleges as employees are outsourced or downsized and as families tighten their financial belts. Many realize that they can cut their tuition bill in half by going to a community college for two years and then transferring to a four-year school.”
The record
enrollment duplicates a phenomenon that was noticeable in the Spring,
he said. Although Spring enrollments tend to lag behind Fall enrollments for
a variety of reasons, last Spring’s 5,152 figure represents a one- percent
increase over the record 5,081 who registered in the fall, 2008 semester.
“The last time Spring enrollment topped both Spring and Fall records
was in 2002, when 4,271 students registered,” Connolly noted. “This
was the in the wake of 9/11 and the recession it exacerbated.”
This semester’s full-time enrollment reached the 2,230 mark,
up 18.7 percent over last fall’s 1,878. Part-time enrollment
hit the 3,379 mark, up 5.5 percent from last Fall’s 3,203.
Full-time equivalent enrollment at the college has reached the 3,266
mark, up 13.2 percent over last fall’s 2,884.
The new results show that women still outnumber men at the campus.
Some 62 percent of the enrollees are women.
HCC continues to attract a diverse student body. Some 56.5 percent
of those reporting their ethnicity indicated they are either Black,
Hispanic, Asian, Native American/Alaskan, multiple race or other non-Caucasian. Of
these, Black students comprised 26.7 percent; Hispanic students, 23.5
percent; Asians, 3.3 percent; Native Americans/Alaskan Natives, 0.1
percent; other race, 2.2 percent, and multiple races, .6 percent.
The college still draws the majority of its students from Bridgeport
(2,634 students, 47 percent) and Stratford (766 students, 13.7 percent);
followed by Shelton (372 students, 6.6 percent); Milford (345 students,
6.2 percent); Trumbull (324 students, 5.8 percent); Fairfield
(239 students, 4.3 percent; Monroe (144 students, 2.6 percent); Ansonia
(134 students, 2.4 percent); Derby (79 students, 1.4 percent); Seymour
(48 students, 0.9 percent); and Easton (23 students, 0.4 percent).
Housatonic is located less than 150 yards off I-95 (Exit 27) and Rte.
8 (Exit 1) in downtown Bridgeport, a block from the Arena at Harbor
Yard.
Anson C. Smith, Public Relations Coordinator
Housatonic Community College
900 Lafayette Blvd.
Bridgeport, CT 06604
Tel: 203-332-5229, Fax: 203-332-5247
E-mail: asmith@hcc.commnet.edu