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GREENSBORO — Community college leaders are poised for yet another influx of students during the spring semester.

As of Thursday, 10,052 students had registered at GTCC, said Alison Wiers, the associate vice president of student learning and success.

At this time last year, there were 6,857 students registered, college officials said.

Wiers said GTCC expects to top 13,000 students by the close of registration Jan. 7. There were 11,500 students enrolled last spring.

Employees who have been laid off as businesses downsize are running to community colleges in droves. GTCC had a record 13,556 students enrolled in the fall, a 20 percent increase from the previous year.

Rockingham Community College also has experienced growth in its student body. There are 2,626 students enrolled this semester, compared to 2,187 last fall.

As of the end of early registration Wednesday, 2,092 students had registered for the spring semester, said Bob Lowdermilk, vice president for student development. There were 2,201 students enrolled last spring. The college expects its numbers to increase in its final registration period in January.

Wiers said GTCC faculty will continue measures used in the fall to handle the growing number of students. Faculty will teach more courses, and administrators also are being asked to help in the classroom.

Some instructors are turning to hybrid classes, in which  part of the course is taught in the classroom and part is taught online, Wiers said.

Instructors are holding classes at times they normally wouldn’t schedule classes, she said, and using conference rooms and other available spaces for teaching.

“We’re being creative with our class schedule because we just physically don’t have enough space,” Wiers said.

Other than the health care programs, which always are popular, Wiers said the culinary, business, automotive and transfer programs are seeing high enrollment numbers.

GTCC also is seeing more students who are in need of financial aid. The number of students receiving financial aid increased 79 percent from spring 2009, officials said.

“I do believe that’s a true reflection of the economy,” Wiers said.

Lisa Koretoff, GTCC’s director of financial aid, said the college disbursed more federal Pell Grants — which are awarded based on need — than any two- or four-year school in the state.

She said the school has awarded more than $13 million to 6,251 students as of Sept. 30.

Federal data also shows that the college is eighth in the nation in the increase of student-aid applications, Koretoff said. The data includes four-year colleges, she said.

“We’ve had a 51 percent increase in what we call FAFSAs (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) over last year at this time,” Koretoff said.
 

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 373-7080 or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com