Eager scholars continue to flock to Amarillo College, where fall academic enrollment is expected to surpass the 10,000-student threshold for the 10th year in a row.
And since the College has the third-largest continuing education enrollment in the state, historically serving another 30,000 individuals through a wide range of occupational and personal enrichment offerings, AC anticipates welcoming a total of about 40,000 individuals area-wide in 2015-2016.
“We are thrilled,” AC President Russell Lowery-Hart said. “Attracting more than 10,000 students ensures we’ll have one of the largest academic enrollments in the history of the College. And interest in our continuing education programs continues to be off the charts.
“The beginning of a new academic year brings a lot of excitement, you can feel the energy, and it ramps up all the more when our enrollment is so robust. We are gratified by the opportunity to offer our proven blend of quality and affordability to this legion of learners.”
Among factors driving substantial academic enrollment at AC are affordability, seamless transfer of credit hours, popularity of dual credit courses that put high school students on a fast track to college success, and technical-degree programs that equip students with the skills necessary to take advantage of immediate career opportunities.
The cost of attending AC is approximately one-third that of the cost of a public university in Texas, and it is by law that AC credits transfer to Texas’ public universities. About 60 percent of academic students at AC aspire to at least a four-year degree, so those who earn an associate degree before they transfer to a university are halfway to their goal—and at a fraction of the cost they might have otherwise absorbed.
A Leader College, one of only 16 designated in 2014 by the nation’s foremost authority on community colleges—Achieving the Dream—Amarillo College has demonstrated clear gains over the past three years in the percentage of students who complete initial college-level courses; persist from one semester to the next; complete courses with a grade of C or better; and either earn a certificate or degree or successfully transfer credits elsewhere.
“Our community deserves to be home to a Leader College,” Lowery-Hart said. “We plan to continue to give our students life-defining experiences.”
September 1, 2015