College enrollment climbing

Enrollment at Western Nevada Community College is 4,800 and climbing.

College marketing director Anne Hansen said the number of students is well on its way to meeting or exceeding last year's 5,199 students.

Late registration, which allows students to enroll in classes with a late fee, continues until Sept. 5.

Hansen said the college is seeing an increase in full-time students with 2,153, many of whom are Millennium Scholars.

Hansen said 400 Millennium Scholars are enrolled at the college so far.

"They are taking more classes, which is what we want," she said.

Hansen said the increase in full-time students means more students are taking a classload which will allow them to graduate.

"They get their degree and get started on their careers and move on," she said. "That is really what we're trying to encourage."

One method Hansen said the college is using to build full-time enrollment is to develop blocks of courses in the morning so students can schedule their time more effectively.

"A lot of people want to go to school in the morning and then work in the afternoon or evening," she said. "We are working on blocking out afternoon courses."

One area where the number of students is decreasing is in those students taking fewer than six credits a semester.

Hansen said those tend to be less traditional students who are working and going to school or are taking classes for personal growth.

"The bad economy may be reducing those numbers because people are waiting for times to get better before taking classes," she said.

Hansen said the college plans to survey those students in an effort to find out how to better serve them.