KINGSTREE — Williamsburg Technical College has welcomed the largest enrollment in the college’s 40-year history.
The college in Kingstree has about 750 students enrolled this semester; the full-time student count is 25 percent over last fall.
The college’s dramatic enrollment increase this fall comes at a time of very limited state and local budget allocations. The college endured a 25-percent cut in state allocations in 2008. This reduced funding continues in the current budget year. These reductions, coupled with enrollment growth, are forcing the college to do more with much, much less, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the college.
College leadership is working to review how space is used on campus so that more courses and more choices will be available to students this spring and into the fall. The college is pursuing funding to increase and expand programs to prepare the work force for high demand areas such as health care occupations, industrial occupations like welding and machine tool, and the emerging opportunities in so-called “green jobs.”
“In these hard economic times we’re thrilled to be offering training and education in a variety of fields to the people of Williamsburg County that can improve their ability to get a job, keep a job, or win a promotion and improve the quality of their lives,” interim president Dr. Cheryl Cox said in the release.
Discussions are ongoing between the college and Williamsburg County Council, Williamsburg County School District officials, and state and federal agencies and legislators to ensure that the only institution of higher learning in Williamsburg County has funding enough to continue serving the rising student population and, consequently, improve the county’s economy.
Williamsburg Tech offers degree, diploma and certificate curriculum study opportunities in more than 25 major fields of study and offers many continuing education opportunities in both personal interest and job-training. For information on applying to Williamsburg Tech for the spring 2010 semester, call (843) 355-4165 or visit www.wiltech.edu online.
Williamsburg Tech’s record enrollment mirrors the trend at Florence-Darlington Technical College in Florence, where enrollment has topped the 5,000 mark for the first time in that college’s 45-year history. It stands at nearly 5,200 students, an increase of more than 16 percent over the same period a year ago.
Also in Florence, Francis Marion University is boasting a projected student enrollment increase of more than 7 percent, resulting in a record high overall enrollment of 4,231 students for the fall. This year’s freshman class of 784 students represents a 15 percent increase from last year, according to a press release from the university.
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