Enrollment at OCC Drops Slightly; Economy Blamed

It looked, as recently as Aug. 3, that enrollment at Ocean County College was due for a nosedive – down 9 percent.

Then administrators started beating the bushes for students. The result; enrollment is off less just half a percent, down for full time students, up for part timers and those taking part in the Kean at Ocean program.

The lousy economy is blamed for fewer students taking courses, although for fiscal 2011 the OCC Financial Aid Office has distributed more than $28.3 million to students. According to Sara Winchester, vice president of finance and administration, 13,361 students received financial aid. In the past five years financial aid awards have increased 127 percent, and the number of students getting aid is up 57.5 percent, she explained.

"It’s unbelievable,’’ she said of the ability to find aid for students, praising Dr. Norman Betz, OCC’s director of financial aid.

Vice President of Student Affairs Don Doran reported on the dismal enrollment outlook on Aug. 3. Email, phone calls, regular mail and text messages were used to connect with students who had not enrolled for the fall semester.

"Finances created the delay. There was a similar trend throughout the state,’’ Doran said.

"Many of the families are simply tapped out,’’ he explained.

About 1,000 students from the spring semester did not return for the fall and Doran said they will be asked about that decision.

OCC President Dr. Jon Larson said 10,317 students are enrolled for the fall semester, down half a percent from a year ago. The full time enrollment of 5,640 students is down 2.3 percent but part time students total 4.677, up 1.9 percent. The Kean-Ocean enrollment grew 7.26 percent, to 1,625, from a year ago.

"That’s larger than two of the community colleges’’ he said of the enrollment in the partnership with Kean. University.