ATU-Ozark summer enrollment up 61%

It’s been a busy summer on the Ozark campus of Arkansas Tech University, with enrollment in the second summer semester up 61% over the same semester in 2008.

The office of Dr. Jo Blondin, chancellor of ATU-Ozark, announced Monday afternoon that 244 students enrolled in the summer II semester, a big jump from the 148 in the 2008 period.

“The student services staff does a great job of educating students about the advantages of taking summer classes. Also, increased funding of the Pell Grant has made it easier for students to attend summer classes,” Richard Harris, chief student officer, noted in the statement.

Harris told The City Wire that some of the increase is a result of the recently unemployed returning to school, but said most of it is driven by previous enrollment gains and increased federal Pell Grant funding.

“The layoffs play a part, there is no doubt. We are seeing students who were working for Whirlpool or Trane or even Rheem. But really I think it’s a carryover from the increased enrollment in the fall and spring of the last (academic) year,” Harris explained.
 
Bruce Sikes, chief academic officer at ATU-Ozark, said the school’s effort to diversify program offerings also has helped boost enrollment figures. He specifically cited the new physical therapist assistant program which had the first class formed in June. The program was launched, Sikes said, to “address a need that was prevalent in the health care industry in the river valley.”

The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith previously reported 2,320 students enrolled for Summer I and 1,443 enrolled for Summer II, up 8% and 3%, respectively, over the 2008 summer periods. Early enrollment for the Fall semester stands at 4,979, up 11% over the 2008 period.