It is official: Amarillo College is presently serving the largest academic enrollment in its 80-year history.

AC’s final enrollment for the fall 2009 semester is 11,100, an all-time high that eclipses the College’s previous historic peak of 10,701 students in 2004.

The fall 2009 tally represents a 9.7-percent increase from the fall semester of 2008, when 10,122 students were enrolled in academic classes.

Robert Austin, dean of enrollment management, attributes the upsurge in enrollment to a variety of factors that include quality programs at an affordable cost and a significant increase in both recent high school graduates (3,390) and older, underemployed students looking for new careers.

He points out that last winter AC placed a freeze on tuition and fees through the remainder of 2009.

“When you don’t raise tuition and fees from one year to the next, people take notice,” Austin said. “Amarillo College is an exceptional educational value whether you are seeking a certificate in a technical career or laying the groundwork for a four-year university degree, and right now we have a lot of students in pursuit of those goals.

“Our main focus now is to help these students reach their academic goals.”

Enrollment at AC will be further bolstered midway through the fall semester when additional classes are scheduled to begin.