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Hancock College enrollment still down from pre-pandemic numbers, but trending upwards

Hancock College students
Dave Alley/KEYT
Allan Hancock College students walk on campus Monday morning.

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- With the fall 2022 semester now underway, student enrollment numbers at Allan Hancock College are still behind pre-pandemic levels, but are beginning to trend upwards.

At the start of the new semester, the college reported a slight increase in enrollment compared to the fall 2021 semester.

"This year's fall enrollment is up about three percent over last year's fall, so that's marching in the right direction," said Dr. Kevin Walthers, Allan Hancock College President/Superintendent.

It continues a slow and steady upward trajectory for the school since the pandemic hit in spring 2022, causing a steep decline in student enrollment, similar to other community colleges across the region, state and nation.

"We're probably still down seven percent from fall of 2019," said Walthers. "We've lost a lot of those adult students. We lost a lot of the students who graduated in 2020 and 2021. They've just haven't quite made it back yet."

While overall student numbers still lag behind where they were in 2019, Hancock College has experienced a record-breaking amount of recently graduated high school students enroll this semester.

Walthers pointed out more than 1,300 graduates from the Class of 2022 from local high schools are now Bulldogs.

"I think students want to go to college," said Walthers. "Students recognize the value of college Students recognize the value of Allan Hancock College particularly if they are from this area. We know that our Bulldog Bound program is starting students out early and bringing them in. We're seeing the results of that. It's good for the community. We need more highly educated people in the community and I think our high school students really want to be part of that."

In an effort to help more students either enroll in college for the first time or to re-enroll after taking some time off, Hancock College has a myriad of programs, services and incentives in place.

"This fall we have a lot of great wraparound services for our students," said Lauren Milbourne, Hancock College Public Affairs/Communications director. "We have two-way texting that the students can text with their counselors and get their questions answered very quickly. We also have a lot of free services. We have free parking. We have free bus passes. We have free tutoring. We have a free food pantry. We have food share for our students. We really want the students to be able to come here, get their questions answered, get the things that they need, so they can really enjoy their classes and connect with their faculty and have a really great semester."

At Cuesta College, which started classed last week, enrollment continues to slowly rebound.

According to the school, student count for fall 2022 is up by less than one percent compared to this time last year.

Overall, enrollment is down more than 11 percent from fall 2019.

Santa Barbara City College begins its fall semester next Monday, Aug. 29, so enrollment numbers are currently unavailable. The school is enrolling student up until the start of the new semester.

Article Topic Follows: California

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Dave Alley

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