Officials push students toward community college

Enrollment figures rose last year at both IU-Bloomington and Ivy Tech-Bloomington, but the Indiana Commission for Higher Education is trying to encourage more students to enroll in community colleges. \nRichard Johnson, at-large member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, said the Commission encourages enrollment in community colleges or places where general-education requirements can be completed because this would take pressure off institutions more focused on research, such as IU and Purdue. \n“If you’re a ‘C’ student, you’re going to have a harder time getting into schools like IU,” Johnson said. “You have the option of going to a community college and finishing up at IU (or elsewhere).”\nIU in particular has been experiencing large amounts of growth. Barbara Bunch, senior research analyst at the Office of the Registrar, said IU experienced a 1.9 percent increase in enrollment this semester compared to the last, which brings the number of students enrolled up to 38,990. She said she believes this is because enrollment figures are up across the country.\nJohnson said we need to focus on the graduation numbers, not enrollment numbers. \n“Having larger numbers of college graduates will provide Indiana with a much more attractive work force,” Johnson said. “The work force, in turn, will bring in more profitable businesses and opportunities for development in Indiana.” \nPurdue’s campuses experienced roughly a one percent increase this year compared to last, said Pamela Horne, assistant vice president for enrollment management and dean of admissions. However, Purdue’s West Lafayette campus dropped from 39,228 to 39,102 students, about a one percent decrease. Horne said that although Purdue’s enrollment is high, she hopes to keep the number of enrolled students closer to 30,000.\n“Our enrollment this year has not increased, but given the grand scheme of things, we’re at capacity,” Horne said. “The primary goal of Purdue is stability.”\nOther universities besides Purdue’s West Lafayette campus experienced decreases in enrollment as well. According to a press release, Ball State University, the University of Southern Indiana and IU-Northwest all experienced decreased numbers this year. \nRegardless of IU and Ivy Tech’s growth, Indiana is behind other states in enrollment figures for higher education. \nBut, Ivy Tech in Indiana increased by about 9.8 percent, showing that more students are in fact taking more of an interest in community colleges, according to the press release.\nJohnson expressed a sense of satisfaction with the growing enrollment across Indiana. Larger enrollment numbers will mean good things for Indiana, Johnson said.\n“We’re on the right path,” said Johnson.