EC faces a series of problems amidst low enrollment, possibly leading to a reassessment of the school’s budget, according to officials.
However, low enrollment is not a new issue for EC. Statistics show that from 2008 to the 2013 academic year, enrollment has dropped by a sharp 31%, according to the official EC 2013 Annual Fact Book.
The report said, “these declines are primarily due to budgetary constraints that lead to reduction in sections offered.”
In many cases, students who were unable to find classes at EC have turned to other colleges who could provide the various sections and classes needed whether it was for transferring purposes, enrichment, basic skills, etc.
For the spring 2015 term, a new building known as the Industry Technology Education Center was opened, however, with fewer students to fill the classrooms the need for this new building has been called into question.
When there aren’t enough students to fill the quota, the college receives less money. As it stands, there was a $5 million deficit from the 2013-2014 academic school year with the balance at the end of the term being approximately $16.7 million, according to the final budget document from the 2013-2014 school year.
Still, there are those who believe that the new building still has a place on the campus despite the college’s financial woes.
“”Enrollment is at the whim of the economy.,” Transfer Counselor Atheneus Ocampo said. When asked if the economy had anything to do with it, Ocampo agreed but also said that there were other factors contributing to the drop in classes.
In fact, the Annual Factbook from 2013 projected that enrollment would stabilize within the next few years, so if not now, this leads to believe that there will be positive change in the future.
“Space is geared towards holding classes,” Ocampo stated. “The building will be there.”
So if there is a need for the building and if enrollment does go up, then there will be more space to house the various classes which is better than being left without in most cases.
“My goal is to help students,” Ocampo said. “There’s always room for improvement and everything is in constant analysis. We areliving in an environment of change.”
Still, despite the challenges ahead, EC will continue to try and work through these problems to come to a solution that not only helps the students through these tough times, but the institution itself.
