Florence-Darlington Tech spring enrollment sets record

Florence-Darlington Technical College is setting an all-time enrollment record when spring semester classes begin Monday.

A total of 5,331 students are registered for the semester.

The number is a 26 percent increase over last spring’s enrollment and is more than last fall’s enrollment, which is normally higher than spring, said Dr. Shelley Fortin, the college’s vice president of student services and enrollment management.

The increase can be attributed in part to the state of the economy, Florence-Darlington Tech President Dr. Charles Gould said in a press release.

“The economy is driving some of the increase with our most significant surge in enrollment in the 18- to 22-year-old age bracket,” Gould said. “Displaced workers also account for a part of the increase. Almost every technical program is bursting at the seams with students who are seeking skill sets that will assist them in securing a job in the future.”

The college has more than 5,000 students with more than 200 full-time faculty and staff members serving the community with seven different sites in Darlington, Florence and Marion counties.

Marion County had the state’s second-highest unemployment rate in November, at 21.4 percent, according to the most recent figures available from the S.C. Employment Security Commission. Darlington County ranked 27th at 13.1 percent, while Florence County ranked 32nd at 12.4 percent. The state’s unemployment rate was 12.3 percent, a record high that tied for the third-highest in the country.

Last semester, the college’s enrollment topped the 5,000 mark for the first time in the college’s 47-year history. Nearly 5,200 students registered for the fall semester, an increase of more than 16 percent over the same period a year ago. That increase came on the heels of a 14 percent increase last fall.

Florence-Darlington Tech’s fall enrollment also outpaced that of the S.C. Technical College System during the past two years. Its enrollment during fall of 2008 increased at nearly a 14-percent rate while the S.C. Technical College System as a whole increased at a 6-percent rate. This fall’s 16 percent increase topped the system’s increase by seven percentage points.

“We’ve very excited about the growth and are very gratified to serve many more students and their families at FDTC,” Fortin said in the release.

Florence-Darlington Tech’s spring enrollment increase mirrors a trend at most of the state’s 15 other technical colleges.

At the northern end of the Pee Dee, Cheraw-based Northeastern Technical College also has campuses in Bennettsville, Dillon and Pageland, where students also will begin classes Monday.

At the southern side of the region, Williamsburg Technical College in Kingstree welcomed the largest enrollment in its 40-year history last semester. The college had about 750 students enrolled for the fall semester, with the full-time student count 25 percent over fall 2008.

Many local high school students are also taking advantage of Florence-Darlington Tech’s dual enrollment program, which allows them to earn college credits while they are still in high school. More than 200 students from 21 area high schools will participate in classes taught at the high schools by the college’s faculty members.

Florence-Darlington Tech was founded in 1963 and opened its doors in 1964 with about 200 students.

On the Web: Florence-Darlington Technical College, www.fdtc.edu