Contact: Chris Chesrown
Media Relations Manager
480-731-8503

ENROLLMENT AT MARICOPA COMMUNITY COLLEGES OUTPACES LOCAL
POPULATION GROWTH

August 24, 2001 - Preliminary figures indicate enrollment at Maricopa Community Colleges this Fall is more than double the overall population growth for the county. As of the beginning of the first week of classes, the actual student headcount increased 5.72% from figures obtained in the Fall of 2000. The Full Time Student Equivalency, or FTSE, rose by 7.15% on a district-wide basis, according to credit hour counts from the first week. Maricopa County’s growth rate is about 2.6% according to the most recent figures available from the State of Arizona’s Population Statistics Office.

“This increase in enrollment is a strong endorsement for the quality courses and programs offered through the Maricopa Community Colleges,” according to Chancellor Fred Gaskin. “We are continually working with students and the business community to provide excellence in coursework for which there is a demand.” The official student counts are traditionally gathered on the forty-fifth day of classes. State funding is based on those figures. The district wide counts have typically risen slightly when compared to counts at the beginning of class. The FTSE figures involve a mathematical formula for figuring out how many students would be considered “full-time” students. Since many students must work, or they take classes elsewhere, only the classes for which they are registered are used in this formula.

The Maricopa County Community College District, is one of the largest community college districts in the nation. It includes 10 colleges – Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Estrella Mountain Community College, GateWay Community College, Glendale Community College, Mesa Community College, Paradise Valley Community College, Phoenix College, Rio Salado College, Scottsdale Community College and South Mountain Community College. The District also includes the Maricopa Skill Center, Southwest Skill Center, several satellite campuses and business/industry, technical and customized training institutes and serves over 250,000 students annually. For more information: 480-731-8000 or www.maricopa.edu.

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March 13, 2002