Enrollment at Jefferson College is down 341 students from the 2020 spring semester to the current spring semester, officials reported.
The college had 3,436 students enrolled in the 2020 spring semester and 3,095 this semester, about a 10 percent decrease, President Dena McCaffrey said.
She said enrollment was down about 10 percent the first semester of this school year, too, which translates to a loss of between $850,000 and $900,000 in revenue for the college this school year.
Jefferson College administrators and Board of Trustees members discussed the lower enrollment Feb. 11, when McCaffrey said health concerns about the pandemic, as well as job loss and other economic stress caused by the pandemic, have affected the college’s enrollment
“We feel the decline in enrollment is because of the pandemic and the challenges people are facing because of the pandemic,” she said. “Some could prefer face-to-face classes, and we’ve lost some of those options. It could be because of job changes or their own kids are learning from home and they don’t have the time to continue their own education.”
McCaffrey said college officials had feared an even worse drop in enrollment than has materialized.
“Our enrollment is actually better than we anticipated,” she said. “Our enrollment is only down about 10 percent instead of the 20 percent we budgeted.”
McCaffrey said once the spread of the COVID-19 virus significantly decreases – whenever that may be – she believes Jefferson College enrollment will increase.
“Yes, I feel comfortable we will regain some of these numbers moving forward,” she said. “We just don’t know when. “
Board President Steve Meinberg agreed with McCaffrey’s assessment of the situation.
“I believe the pandemic has slowed everything down,” he said. “When we get through this pandemic, things should start getting back to normal.”
Tuition for Jefferson College ranges from $112 a credit hour for Jefferson County residents to $224 per credit hour for those who live out of state. A variety of fees also are charged.