Toxcina King
As Pierce College celebrates sixty years of academic excellence, enrollment is rising rapidly – there are currently 20,049 students enrolled for the fall 2007 semester.
That’s a 7.4 percent increase when compared to enrollment numbers from fall 2006. Enrollment of international students has also increased steadily during the last few semesters. At the conclusion of the fall 2006 semester, a total of 432 students were enrolled at Pierce from various countries.
“I think it’s getting harder and harder to find a job without a college education. Here at Pierce, we offer academic, transfer and vocational programs,” said Dean of Admissions Shelley Gerstl.
The increase in nationwide community college admissions comes primarily from a surge of births during the 1980s. Children of the baby boomers are coming of age.
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that in 2010, 16 million students will be attending colleges and universities nationwide, over half of whom will be adults. Pierce is attended by people of very diverse backgrounds.
The largest concentration of enrollment is students 24 years old and younger. The second largest concentration is of working adults. Currently there are 594 students enrolled who are over the age of 54.
“I’ve been here over 25 years and this is the highest enrollment we’ve had,” said Gerstl. Just visit any community college in America and count the strollers in the registration line. One of the benefits of the Pierce campus is that it has the Child Development Center, which provides day care and is operated by licensed child care providers.
Pierce also has a ‘Kids on Campus’ fall 2007 educational program offered through the Pierce Extension. The fact is, the vast majority of adults who go back to college do so while juggling work and family responsibilities.
Every year at Pierce’s graduation ceremony, the cheering husbands, wives and children of Pierce graduates are living proof that it’s never too late to return to school, no matter what age, race or gender.
In the Office of Admissions and Records, you will find a staff that is responsible for implementing college policies and procedures related to admissions, registration, grades, transcripts and graduation.