This fall marks one of the highest enrollment increases for Flathead Valley Community College, as the campus welcomes more than 500 new students.
“It’s been a busy start to the fall semester,” said FVCC President Jane Karas.
Karas reported a 37 percent increase in full-time students at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Sept. 15. The school enrolled more than 1,770 full-time students this year, up from around 1,200 last fall, Karas said.
The total “head count” on campus, accounting for all students, is at 2,444 this fall, compared to last year’s 1,867.
The increase was again attributed to the economic recession and a need for new career training. Karas said more people are looking for affordable educational opportunities in their local communities.
“Many people, because of work or family or other circumstances, can’t move away to get a four-year degree,” Karas said.
FVCC’s partnerships with four-year universities throughout the state provide this demographic with the chance for higher education, she added. To stay accessible, Karas said tuition did not increase this semester from the Spring 2009 semester.
But a bigger student body has presented significant challenges for the staff and facilities, Karas noted.
“The increase in enrollment has been staggering for us,” Karas said.
To adapt, the faculty and staff have opened up new classes because some were full early on in registration. Even the online classes reached their capacity limits, Karas said.
“We don’t want to turn anyone away just because our classes are full,” she said.
Some of the new courses at the college include an expansion to the allied health and nursing program, a cabinet and furniture making course, an added graphic design degree and an expanded natural resources program.
Karas said the college’s classes, though larger this year than in previous years, are still smaller than four-year university classes. She also said there is tutoring, counseling and a qualified faculty supporting the students, so course quality should not suffer with the increased student numbers.
Honors student Ryan Frields spoke on behalf of the new Scholars Program, which allows its participants to transfer to the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana in Missoula or the honors college at Montana State University after two years at FVCC. They then start school at the university as first-semester juniors.
After going back to school to become a licensed addiction counselor, Frields, 32, said he applied for the program not expecting to get in. But when he did, the financial relief of not having to pay tuition and receiving a textbook stipend allowed him to switch from working full-time to part-time.
Another student, Art VanDeraa, spoke about returning to school after losing his job at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company in February.
“It’s a challenge,” VanDeraa said.
He spends 12 hours on campus a week, as well as three hours in online courses, pursuing a major in energy technology after being out of college for 30 years. The toughest part was getting back into algebra, he said, which he rushed off to after speaking.
Karas also spoke about the benefits of the Running Start program, which allows high school juniors and seniors to take college courses. The amount of available courses diminished recently after the state Board of Public Education decided college professors needed K-12 licensure to teach high school students, Karas said.