By AMBER COULTER
JASPER, Ind. — A significant enrollment increase at Vincennes University Jasper Campus this semester might indicate how area residents are coping with a down economy, and the tuition dollars from it are helping the campus deal with its own economic problems.
VUJC enrollment increased from this time last year to now by about 25 percent, according to a recent report. That’s a few percentage points higher than revealed in a head count at the beginning of the semester. At VU overall, there’s a 19.3 percent increase since a year ago.
VUJC Dean Alan Johnson said the enrollment increase is the largest he has seen in his 33 years working in community and technical colleges. It’s typical to see 3 to 5 percent increases from one year to the next, he said.
“These kinds of things we’re talking about are exciting to me,” he said. “They keep me in the business.”
The 25 percent jump is consistent with an overall head count and the number of full-time students on the campus. Funding is based on the number of full-time students, which increased about 28 percent from the beginning of last fall until the beginning of this fall.
The number appears to be at least staying steady going into the spring semester. Early enrollment is 50 percent higher than it was at this time last year. That’s likely related more to current students registering early than to new students, because most spring students are the same students who attended during the fall semester, Johnson said.
Enrollment trends show an increase in the number of full-time students and younger students on campus. Johnson attributes the changes to the economy causing local parents to send their children to VUJC for a couple years to save money before their children go away to college.
There continue to be a lot of working adults on campus, he said.
The campus increased the number of classes by only 6 percent and accommodated the student increase mostly by filling existing classes. That meant the university could accommodate the enrollment increase without spending a lot more money, Johnson said.
Also, the tuition increase associated with the student increase is helping to offset a reduction in state assistance for the 2009-10 fiscal year. That could become even more important if an expected reduction of state funding to higher education happens as a result of lower-than-expected state revenue, he said.
Johnson said he doesn’t know to what extent VUJC will be impacted or what steps the campus will need to take to be financially stable. Campus administrators already were asked to reduce spending by about 5 percent; one step they took in response was not filling a position with a full-time professor after it was vacated.
Duane Chattin, director of public information for VU, said the university as a whole will also be depending on tuition money with state cuts on the way. He’s not sure the extra tuition will result in an increase in money available to VU because state cuts could take cancel out that increase.
Contact Amber Coulter at acoulter@dcherald.com.
