Snead State Experiences Enrollment Growth

The fall semester at Snead State Community College is in full swing with 8 percent more students enrolled this term than the previous fall semester.

“With the economic uncertainty resulting in job losses, we anticipated some growth, but our numbers have actually exceeded what we expected. We do have students who have chosen to continue their education or enhance their job skills to make themselves a more viable employee,” said Snead State President Dr. Robert Exley.

This fall, Snead State shows an enrollment of 2,453 students, a number which is expected to grow as students register for a mini-term session that will begin Oct. 13. In the fall 2008, enrollment was 2,251 students.

Not only are there more students, but those students are also taking more courses. Each course is assigned a certain number of credit hours that a student accumulates to apply toward their degree, and tuition cost is based on the number of credit hours a student takes. Last fall, students registered for 23,424 credit hours. This semester, students are taking 26,316 credit hours, a 12 percent increase.

Snead State sophomore Marlee Johns of Albertville agrees the economy played a role in the enrollment increase. “I think that the way the economy is right now definitely has something to do with enrollment being up. With so many labor jobs on the decline, people realize that a degree has a little more job security.”

Miss Johns is an Ambassador at Snead State and served as a Parson Preview Experience leader during the College’s orientation for new freshmen. “I have noticed that more people have decided to go back to school. Between this year and last year, I’ve seen that there are more students who have gone back to school after years of raising a family or following a career path that is no longer fulfilling. Also I think that more students straight out of high school have come to Snead,” she said.

Snead State programs reflecting the most growth are career technical offerings such Child Development, Electronic Engineering Technology, and Office Administration. More students have also taken advantage of the College’s distance education program.

“Online courses give students an opportunity to pursue their coursework in a convenient manner while they juggle family and job responsibilities. At Snead State, we have an exciting mixture of opportunities for students to enjoy the convenience of distance education as well as the complete college experience of on-campus classes and activities,” said Dr. Exley.

The College has seen growth at its two off campus instructional sites as well. The Arab Instructional Site showed a 12 percent increase in the number of students utilizing the facility, and the Blount County Instructional Site, located in Cleveland, showed a 36 percent increase in enrollment.

“The growth tells me that as a College, we are moving in the right direction to meet the needs of our community and our students,” said Dr. Exley. “Our goal is to provide a quality learning environment for our students to reach their full potential as employees, as leaders, and as world changers, and as more and more people see Snead State as an integral part of their future, I anticipate we’ll enjoy continued growth.”

Students can still register for the Fall Mini II term, which spans eight weeks beginning Oct. 13. Registration for the Mini II session ends Oct. 12. For more information, contact the Student Services Office at studentservices@snead.edu.