CC reports lower spring enrollment

Spring enrollment figures at Clarendon College are down after four years of record growth.

CC Interim President Tex Buckhaults said total enrollment was 1,441 following the 12th class day last Wednesday, a drop of 2.1 percent from last spring’s figure.

Head count on the home campus in Clarendon dropped nine percent from 295 to 268, and the count at the Pampa Center was down about 19 percent from 206 to 167.

Buckhaults said the Childress Center was a bright spot in the enrollment report with the head count there increasing 100 percent from 21 to 42.

A year ago, low unemployment in the Childress area was pointed to as the reason for enrollment dropping there by 22 students from spring 2018.

Area high school students taking dual credit classes through CC continues to rise, up 2.5 percent from 631 to 647. The number of distance education students taking classes strictly online was up slightly from 124 to 129.

Numbers were down somewhat in the Jordan and Roach correctional units, from 73 to 65 at Jordan and from 84 to 76 at Roach.

Cosmetology students in Amarillo and Canyon were up, and Pampa saw increases in both cosmetology and nursing.

Buckhaults said thanks to the increases in cosmetology and nursing, the college only lost 0.3 percent in contact hours. He also said the college can take some steps to improve enrollment in the future.

“We need to work on scheduling in Pampa,” Buckhaults said. “Students can’t find what they need at the time then need it, and 30- and 40-year-olds don’t necessarily want it online.”