Southwestern College’s official student count topped 1,800 this year, a record for the school, college officials announced Monday.
A head count taken on the day 20 of the school year shows 1,820 graduate and undergraduate students are enrolled on the Winfield campus and in professional studies programs. Professional studies classes are offered in Wichita, Junction City, Midwest City, Okla and online.
Last year’s fall count was 1,703. This year’s freshman class consists of 159 students, up 15 percent over last fall’s freshman class of 138.
College president Dick Merriman attributes the college’s growth ? its enrollment has doubled in the past 10 years ? to the college’s ability to understand and address the needs of distinctive student populations.?
"Residential students on our main campus want a learning experience that is very different from that desired by working adults who are completing degrees on a part-time basis and at a distance," Merriman said. "As the college’s people have listened, learned, and responded, we’ve grown."??
Also measured in the federal government’s official 20-day counts are the number of full-time equivalent students.
This number is calculated by dividing the total credit hours taken by 15, the number of hours in a full-time class load.
The residential Winfield campus posted an full-time equivalent count of 589 and 318 in professional studies on-ground and online. This total full-time equivalent count of 907 is nearly 18 per cent higher than last year’s total of 770.
