Education inspection

PCC discusses solutions to enrollment worries

ARIELLE ZOLEZZI Reporter @ArielleZolezzi

A 2 percent decrease in enrollment might not seem like a lot, but it is causing administration to reassess the programs and services provided by the school to find a solution for those decreasing numbers.

The Pierce College Council (PCC) met Thursday, Sept. 28, and spoke about the enrollment drop and possible measures to increase student experience to encourage incoming and returning students to complete their education.

Vice President of Student Services

Earic Dixon-Peters reported the demographics found by the Pierce College Retention Research survey. He said that in fall 2015, 22,016 students were enrolled, and the following spring semester, 7,457 students did not re-enroll.

“We are hoping that our initiative to pay for students fees their first year if they commit to a full-time student load will address the issues that we found in our survey,” Dixon-Peters said. “We also have our summer bridge program, which we are hoping will have an impact on students taking more units.” azolezzi.roundupnews@gmail.com

The survey also found that students were not unsatisfied with their college experience. Eightyone percent of students who didn’t re-enroll were satisfied with Pierce College, and 82 percent said they would recommend the institution.

It was determined that factors attributed include class availability and material expenses, according to the survey.

Isha Pasricha, vice president of the ASO, said students should be more vocal about student issues that could be fixed.

“I genuinely appreciate the faculty that is here taking time out of their lives just to make the students’ lives better, and we should grab that hand they are extending,” Pasricha said.