Enrollment in the Honors Transfer Program has jumped, tying it for No.1 in TAP (Transfer Alliance Program) with students admitted to UCLA.

There are currently 550 students in the Honors Transfer Program, representing nearly 3 percent of the total student population.

In May 2008, there were only 450 students enrolled, which translates to a 22 percent growth spike in less than a year.

This has left Honors Transfer Program staff members feeling overwhelmed.

“The number of students in the Honors Transfer Program has increased each semester for the past three years,” Susan McLeod, secretary to the program, said. “The more students there are in the program, the more scheduling and paperwork needs to be done. We simply lack manpower.”

McLeod is paid by the state to be only a part-time employee.

“I can only do so much with the time I have in the office.” McLeod said.

Mt. San Antonio College and Santa Monica College are the two schools tied with EC in transfers via TAP to UCLA.

However, both colleges have significantly more staff-per-student than EC’s does.

Santa Monica College, in comparison to EC, has two and a half times the staffing for its program, even though the size of the programs is approximately the same.

Although the EC staff is excited about the enrollment increase, they are anticipating a greater workload to come with it in order to ensure quality for these students.

“It’s great that the enrollment rates have been going up, but it results in more work that needs to be done,” Joseph Holliday, director of the Honors Transfer Program, said.

As of yet, funding for the program is already running thin when it comes to accommodating the greater number of students enrolled.

“As is, we’re already stretched to our limits, and we are expecting another increase in enrollment next semester,” Holliday said.

McLeod also predicts that Honors Transfer Program enrollment rates are going to continue to rise into the next semester.

“By summer, I’m expecting the program to contain more than 600 students,” McLeod said. “It was half of that just three years ago.”

Holliday said he believes that the Honors Transfer Program has also increased in quality, as well as in quantity.

Approximately 93 percent of EC applicants who were TAP certified were admitted to UCLA last semester.

This is an increase of 4 percent in less than a year.

Only 40 percent of all EC applicants were admitted to UCLA last year.

“The Honors Transfer Program allows the students’ time, as well as the state’s resources, to be used efficiently,” Holliday said. “Students in the program usually transfer in two and a half years or less, which means the student is getting the most out of the time spent at EC.”

Despite these positive changes, there is currently no timetable for any increase in funding for the Honors Transfer Program.

“We don’t have the staffing to sustain an increase in enrollment next semester,” Holliday said. “The program is on the verge of collapse as it is.”