Fort Lewis
Hits Largest Census Number to Date
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new school year and new census numbers yield a bump in the number of student enrollment, with Fort Lewis College enrollment showing nearly a one percent increase in student population. Last year’s on-campus student enrollment totaled to 3,748 students. This year, FLC attendance is up by 88 students, bringing the total to 3,836. “The bump that we are seeing in the numbers were a direct result of the bump we saw in the freshman class,” Julie Love, Director of student housing and conference services, said. “We have the same number of returning students this year, so it’s mostly transfer students and first- year students where we see the increase.” The freshman class alone is up by 105 students from last year bringing the total to 1,436 first-year students, Love said.
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Story by Megan Ripe
For bigger campuses the difference is fairly minimal, but for FLC, the increase brings attention to some needed adjustments. Capacity on some classes had to raise but all composition English classes stayed at the 25 student limit said Ana Hale, writing program instructor. “We did have to open at least one other section of a TRS class,” Hale said. The increase in the number of students isn’t a normal trend for the college and enrollment numbers were staggering in the past due to the higher admission standards enacted in 2008 as well as the budget cuts in 2010 that took away three student programs, said Mitch Davis, the public affairs officer for FLC. “We are bucking the trend of downward enrollment,” Davis said. There are several factors that have contributed to the upward