OCCC Welcomes New President
November 13, 2024
OCCC sees robust enrollment growth in Full-Time Equivalent student count
The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Committee (HECC) has released updated community college enrollment data for the Fall 2024 term. Compiled after the fourth week of the term, the data reveals continued growth in enrollment across Oregon’s community colleges, including Oregon Coast Community College.
Since the first fall term of the pandemic in 2020, enrollment across Oregon community colleges has increased by 5.6%. OCCC, however, has outpaced the statewide average, achieving 25.95% growth over the same period. Compared to the previous year, Fall 2023, OCCC’s Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) enrollment grew by 4.94%. Among Oregon Coast colleges, only Southwestern Oregon Community College reported stronger year-over-year growth, at 19.28%.
FTE enrollment provides a standardized measure, converting part-time and full-time student participation into a full-time student equivalent. In Oregon, one FTE is defined as a student completing 510 instructional hours during an academic year.
While FTE enrollment continues to climb, OCCC’s headcount—a raw count of individual students—has decreased, with 689 students registered in Fall 2024 compared to 871 in Fall 2023. This decrease stems from a deliberate shift in how OCCC registers non-credit community education participants. Which students are included in headcount may vary by college, thus OCCC does not consider the metric a useful comparator across colleges. In OCCC’s case, this Fall marked the first term in which the college stopped counting many non-credit (community education) participants in the figure.
“Our non-credit programming is a vital part of OCCC’s mission to serve everyone in our community, including those not pursuing degrees or certificates,” said Dave Price, Vice President of Engagement at OCCC. “These enrichment courses, which range from cooking and music to art and singing, are designed to provide lifelong learning opportunities to residents across Lincoln County.”
OCCC’s Fall 2024 non-credit programming lineup is among the largest in its history, with more than 825 registrations recorded to date.
“As these programs grow in popularity, we want to ensure that our headcount figures generally reflect students pursuing credit-bearing instruction,” Price explained. “Registering one-time participants in free or low-cost workshops through our student management system isn’t always the best use of resources. While this adjustment will temporarily affect comparisons to past headcount figures, it ultimately positions the College to collect more meaningful data to inform future enrollment strategies.”
Winter Term Registration Open Now
Oregon Coast Community College’s Winter 2025 term begins January 6, 2025. New students are welcome to begin their studies in any term—Fall, Winter, Spring, or Summer. The first step is a free, no-obligation meeting with a student success coach, which can be scheduled at oregoncoast.edu/advising. For more information, visit oregoncoast.edu or call 541-867-8501.
