Featured Story

Bachelor's degree students fuel growth for fall

Thursday, Aug 30, 2012
Jay Davis

A banner welcomes students who attend the Sanford/Lake Mary Campus. Signs and balloon arches were set up on each campus for the start of classes on Monday, Aug. 27.

Students enrolled in Seminole State College of Florida’s new bachelor’s degree programs are fueling enrollment growth for the Fall Term at the College, new numbers show.

As classes start this week, Seminole State is showing a credit enrollment increase of nearly 5 percent for Fall Term, compared with the same period for Fall Term 2011.

Pamela Mennechey, associate vice president of Student Recruitment and Enrollment, says 700 students are enrolled in the College’s five bachelor’s degrees.

“The growth of our bachelor’s degree programs – four of which started just in January – have helped us outpace our projections for the fall,” Mennechey says. “This is an impressive feat, given that we expected no growth this term.”

In addition to bachelor’s degree increases, enrollment is up in all areas at the College, Mennechey says, including first-time-in-college, transfer, and dual enrollment students.

Growth at Seminole State is spread across all four campuses,  the highest overall increase – 19 percent – at the Heathrow Campus, data shows. Heathrow is the base campus for two of the bachelor’s degrees (business and information management, and interior design).

Bachelor’s degree enrollments are still only about 2 percent of the more than 56,000 total credit enrollments at Seminole State. However, Mennechey says she expects this percentage to rise significantly over the next few years as more students transition into the College’s four-year programs.

The College is also looking to expand those programs by offering more online courses. In Fall 2013, Seminole State will begin offering a fully online Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Construction degree, the first of its kind in the nation. The program is designed for students who have earned an A.S. in construction or a related field.

Dr. Mark Morgan, associate vice president, Institutional Effectiveness and Research, says the Fall Term’s increases also can be attributed to the schedule, which was adjusted through the enrollment period.

“Academic Affairs and Student Affairs have teamed up well to build and fill a schedule that seems well-suited to students enrolling this term,” Morgan says.

Seminole State’s bachelor’s degree students at a glance:

• 700 students are enrolled for Fall Term.
• About 45 percent first earned their associate degree from Seminole State.
• About 30 percent earned their degree (A.A., A.S. or bachelor's) from another Florida institution.

Seminole State offers five bachelor’s degrees. The deadline to apply for Spring Term is Oct. 15. For more information, visit the bachelor's degree home page or call 407.708.2106.