Eastern Gateway celebrates rise in fall enrollment

Staff report

jefferson

Eastern Gateway Community College Board of Trustees applauded the fall enrollment report presented at a special meeting this month.

Cheers broke out when Patty Sturch, dean of enrollment management, announced, “When most institutions are showing a downward turn in enrollment, I am happy to report that we have a double-digit percentage increase. We are up 15 percent.”

Sturch reported that fall enrollment has grown more since the record numbers were reported in September.

“Enrollment at Eastern Gateway is nearing the 2,500 mark for the first time in its history. This represents a 15 percent increase from fall 2010,” she said. “Our new-student count jumped by 27 percent, with 5 percent of that jump coming from Jefferson County.”

One reason for the increase is the addition of 300 Jefferson County high-school students in the dual-enrollment program.