1996

WEEK OF

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From I A their institutions and expect to see enrollments growing into the next century. "Mississippi doesn't have a bet– ter bargain," said Horace Holmes, president of Southwest Mississippi Community College in Summit. "You can't beat t he cost." Others agree. "We try to keep our cost at a minimum, where it is af– fordable," said Joe Ray, dean of ad– missions atMississippi Delta Com– munity College. " It's a way to get your freshman and sophomore years and save a lot ofmoney." Tuition at Mississippi Delta in Moorhead is $445 per semester. lt is $510 a semester at Hinds. While community college costs - about halfthe price of attending a Missis– sippi university - are an enormous draw to student.s and parents, two– year schools are Juring custome rs for other reasons. " I came from a small high school and t he classes here are smaller," said Kelly Dunn, 19, ofHattiesburg, a Pearl River C.ommunity College sophomore. "We have some really outstanding professors, and stu– dent life is impro\'ing a lot.'' Dunn, the editor of Dixie Drawl, Pearl River's student news paper, said a small coll ege opens many leadership opportuni ties to stu– dents just out of high school. " I would recommend Pearl River to family and friends," s he said. Afte r receiving her degree at 2,941-student Pearl River in 1997, Dunn plans to enroll at the Univer– sity of Southern Mississippi. Pearl River is beating the bushes for students like Dunn in its s ix– county south Mississippi district, said spokesman Larry Stanford of the Poplarville campus. "We adver– tise on TV in the fall and send Pearl River tabloids to every household," he said. The enrollment trend for the bulk of the two-year schools this fall is nothing new.

Univer~it~ of ~lis=>i,.,ippi now a practicing pha:macc;.. said. With such success 't.One5 ;.o 1 Coahoma and other t~"'O-}dU leges are doing a bene: job • 1 rooting themsel\'e to pr -peo students, Shaw said. · \\ e - been ringing our bell a, loud a: should have," be said. "We in our programs. Wear~ ebJu: 1 demics." Coahoma's district include nica County, a hotbed oD .. pi casinos that have broup; job the Delta."With casinos in ;he a we think we are bein!! hr:l many ways," Shaw :>aid. have provided many ot ~job: our students." Other officials ba\'~ ~ed~ same message: Economic :– and partnerships ~;;h bu.: are good for commumt) coil _ _ "Due to the dema."ld.:- :-eu ing and so forth ,·wea."edoim:a l work with indusm . 5aid E Commun ity Colie::: P:e d Starkey Morgan. ·1 coo· slackeningoffofit.- Holmes, like o;:he: sd:~£'3. revved up new ad\e;– paigns to draw ~en~· to its campuses in Goo -,= Ridgeland. ~1orga;J _ radio a lot in ou: TDJ!-kfti=:-: gy," he said. Some tuden:s SZ\· c•r.......-,,..,. year colleges ~:h.; fa they're a good b:___ bet5C~ school and a four-~e::.:

STATE TWO·YEAR COLLEGE ENROLLMENT

Fall1994 Fall1995 Fall1996

School

12,603 8,763 4,059 4,351 3,429 2,849 2,837 2,851 2,386 2,409 2,310 1,482

11,671 9,231 4,347 4,446 3,617 2,805 2,787 2,926 2,553 2,450 2,403

12,808 8,988 4,491 4,481 3,885 3,174 2,941 2,938 2,700 2,539 2,498 1,828 1,663 1,593 963 57,490

Hinds

Miss. Gulf Coast Northwest Miss. Jones Jr. College

ltawamba Meridian Pearl River

Northeast Miss.

Holmes

Copiah-Lincoln Miss. Delta East Central Southwest Miss.

1,698 1,629 1,534

1,550 1,495

East Miss. Coahoma

969

934

Totals· 55,031 · Numbers represent students enrolled in for-credit classes. 54,343

Source Mossossoppi communoty and junoor colleges

The 15 schools enrolled 52,371 students in both credi t and non– credit cou rses in fall 1986. The numbers steadily climbed to 81,599 in fall1995, with 55,031 of those en– rolled in for-credit courses, records show. That was an overall 56 per– cent growth rate spanning nearly a decade. In fall1994, total enrollment was 76,934, with 54,343 of those stu– dents in for-credit courses. There were 72,071 enrolled in fall 1993 in both credit and non-credit courses. Overall totals for fall 1996 aren't available yet, junior college officials say, but they project enrollment will be up another 3 percent. Campuses report a total 57,490 students in for– credit courses. " It's been uphill growth all the way," said Bill Bunch, an adminis– trator with the Mississippi Board for Community and Junior Col – leges. "Our thrus.t .has been to make

community colleges accessible to the people. The number of part– ti me students has grown tremen– dously." Mississippi universities saw en– rollments increase on seven of eight main campuses this fall. The only school reporting a decrease is Jack– son State University. Small, rural Coahoma Commu– nity College attributes the influx of new students to hard work by re– cruiters and qther boosters of the campus in Clarksdale. "Many ofour former students are parents and sending their children to us now," said Jerone Shaw, Coa– homa's academi c dean. "Many of the students that left u s are our greatest recruiters." Shaw, a 1965 Coahoma alumnus, practices what he preaches. Hi s daughter graduated from 963-stu– dent Coahoma in the mid-1980s. She attended Delta State and the

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