Sep 24, 2018

Student enrollment for College of the Mainland this fall is the largest in school history with 5,918 students registered for credit courses and continuing education.

There are 4,705 students enrolled in credit courses, including dual credit, marking an eight percent increase compared to Fall 2017 while 1,239 registered for continuing education classes. The fall semester enrollment also shows a 17 percent increase in dual credit students – area high school students who earn simultaneous credit for college and high school.

“More and more students are finding it convenient and affordable to attend College of the Mainland whether to secure an associate degree and transfer to a four-year institution or to obtain a certificate and enter the workforce. These options are what make community colleges, like COM, desirable,” said Dr. Warren Nichols, president of College of the Mainland.

 Total enrollment by city is as follows:

• Texas City 1,302

• Dickinson 957

• League City 872

• Santa Fe 543

• La Marque 455

• Friendswood 447

• Hitchcock 250

• Others 1,092

Of the credit students enrolled at COM this fall, 65 percent are in-district students and 33 percent come from outside COM’s taxing district and therefore pay a higher tuition rate, according to COM’s Planning, Effectiveness, Analytics/Assessment and Research data. COM’s taxing district includes the Dickinson, Hitchcock, Santa Fe and Texas City school districts.

When broken down by ethnicity, the credit student population consists of 47 percent white, 31 percent Hispanic, 16 percent black and six percent other. The number of Hispanic students rose 15 percent from last year. Females make up 59 percent of all credit students enrolled.

Data also shows the average age of the COM credit student is 23 with 40 percent of the student population between the ages of 18 and 24.

Other data shows that 3,556 credit students attend COM on a part-time basis and 1,130 are full-time. The top five declared majors include general studies (which includes most dual credit students), general studies-pre-nursing, process technology (PTEC), business and nursing.

Although about 500 students are declared as pre-nursing majors, the nursing program at COM does not have the capacity to admit all students. The process technology program also does not have the capacity to enroll all interested students.

The enrollment numbers for credit students were determined after the last day to drop a course without creating an academic record. Continuing education enrollment figures are preliminary, as the reporting period is quarterly and runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30.