Howard College Experiences Increase in Student Enrollment

BIG SPRING, TX - Howard College reported good news this afternoon. After dealing with a decline in enrollment the past few years, there's now a "spark of better days" through a 9.24 percent enrollment increase across the district. This increase is based on preliminary reports, said Howard officials.

According to a press release, enrollment numbers were on the rise for three of the district's four sites with the highest increase being in San Angelo.

“We are excited to see this increase in enrollment for the district,” said Dr. Cheryl T. Sparks, president. “There are so many factors that feed into the growth and decline of the student population, and I am very encouraged by this change taking us out of the decline and into the growth column.”

Here are the numbers Howard provided: 

Over the fall 2015 semester, San Angelo enrollment grew by 317 students, or 12.80 percent.

“San Angelo is our largest site, serving a total of 2,793 students this semester,” said Sparks. “We have been working very hard to listen to our students, businesses and local communities to respond to their needs, and I believe we are stepping up to that challenge across the district.”

Additionally, Big Spring enrollment came in at 1,524, or a 4.60 percent increase, over the fall 2015 semester. Lamesa had an 11.36 percent increase with 147 enrolled students. Next, the SouthWest Collegiate School for the Deaf (SWCID) witnessed a slight decrease of 11 students, which comes out to 8.09 percent.

Howard officials said a booming oil economy played a role for previous declines in enrollment, but now that the oil economy has witnessed a decline, there are more students seeking higher education.

“When people are losing jobs, or not able to find jobs with their current skills, they will often consider returning to college and furthering their education,” said Sparks. “And community colleges offer a great resource. We’re affordable, accessible and target all different types of learners.” 

Howard officials said while the economy is still in a rough spot in Texas, college administrators have been "working hand-in-hand with local agencies to meet the growing demand for more skilled workers and new career technical education programs.

"We have been further developing our Career Technical Education (CTE) programs to serve all different levels of students,” said Sparks. “Our traditional and non-traditional students are both finding value in the CTE programs as they are learning skill sets that make them immediately employable.”

Howard officials added that the enrollment numbers continue to support Howard College's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institute (HSI), which allows the college to qualify for certain federal grants, including the Title V grant recently awarded to the institution. Fall 2016 reports indicate an approximate 46 percent Hispanic student enrollment.

Dr. Sparks said, “This designation is important for us as it allows us to compete for funding to develop and improve services to our students. As we continue to experience significant state funding shortages, it is important for us to access every funding source possible to continue to meet the needs of all learners.  We can do a better job of that with additional grant funding through the HSI programs.”

Officials also noted that as the state of Texas prepares for the upcoming legislative session in January, community colleges will be advocating for conservative funding approaches to address decreased funding over the last few sessions.

“The community college system has strong data to support our case,” said Sparks. “And we will be front and center to advocate for our funding as we continue to be a primary resource for higher education in Texas.”

Overall, community support for Howard College has always provided a strong base for growth and productivity through partnerships with school districts, economic development boards, local hospitals, counties, cities and educational councils, said Howard officials.

Dr. Sparks added, “These partnerships are becoming more important to all of us in rural West Texas than ever before and we are grateful for the ongoing, stable relationships we have built over the years. Whether we are in Big Spring, Lamesa, San Angelo, or another community located in our 13 county service areas, we have an opportunity to make a difference for our communities as well as our students, and that is our vision and mission.”

For more information on Howard College, contact Cindy Smith at (432)264-5034, [email protected], or visit www.howardcollege.edu.