Message from the President - January 2017
Today marks the first day of the Spring semester at Santa Barbara City College! As we begin a new semester, I want to take a moment to share some information with colleagues and friends of the college. A frequent question and area of confusion is around our College enrollment.
In my view, SBCC has not done a good job in providing clear and consistent information about our enrollment. One would think that counting enrollment would be a simple matter, but of course, it is not. For example, for funding purposes, the state of California requires us to report enrollment one way; on the other hand, some foundations and even other state agencies request other types of reporting. Grants may be looking to count students in even yet another way. Then there’s the Federal government that looks at enrollment differently again. All of this is to say, we recognize that we need some consistency.
Understandably, many here in Santa Barbara are concerned about college impacts on infrastructure. As such, it makes sense that our official enrollment should be reported as actual individuals "headcount" (i.e., numbers of noses!) attending classes on our campus. These could be full-time or part-time students. In any case, using this straightforward method, these students are counted as one student each. Enrollment numbers are finalized at the close of the semester. Therefore, I will report final enrollment numbers at the end of each semester. Here’s an example of what I am talking about:
For the Fall 2016 semester, the Main Campus headcount was 13,165. Additionally, while they don’t impact infrastructure so much, we also served 1,868 students at the local high schools (“Dual Enrollment”) and a robust distance education program, serving 2,575 students exclusively online.
In the bigger picture, the Main Campus headcount has been steadily declining over the last several years. For example, the Main Campus headcount for Fall 2009 semester was 16,180. This represents a decline of 3,015 students (about 18%) from Fall 2009 to Fall 2016. In addition to sharing this information with you, we will also be updating our website to reflect consistent information regarding enrollment. Please visit our website for more information.
I want to personally thank you for the warm welcome I have received here and for your continued support of our Community’s College! Please share this Bridge newsletter with your friends and neighbors. If you received this from a friend, you can sign up to receive it directly by
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Dr. Anthony E. Beebe, Superintendent/President
