College Enrollment Up 17% for Summer

Enrollment at Moorpark College during its four summer sessions is up 17% from last year, officials say.

The college has 6,516 students attending this summer, compared with 5,440 at the same time last year.

Eva Conrad, Moorpark College’s executive vice president of student learning, said administrators welcomes such growth because more students means more money for the college.

“It’s that same cycle of funding: The more we grow, the more available dollars we have to do the things we like to do on campus, such as buying more computers, opening more labs and hiring more teachers,” she said.

Conrad credits good timing as much as anything for the rise in attendance. Because Moorpark offers a session from May 14 to June 10, a significant number of students choose to squeeze in an extra class or two and still have most of the summer to sleep late and relax, she said.

“We get out in the middle of May, then they can take a course and be off when their friends who go to four-year universities are off,” she said.

Conrad also attributes Moorpark’s strong attendance figures to the increased acceptance of summer sessions as a regular, and often necessary, component of higher education.

“The more the K-through-12 schools go year-round, people begin to look at the college as a year-round institution, and the data certainly shows that,” she said.

Conrad said the general-education classes are the first to fill and account for the greatest share of enrollment, and a new summer arts festival--featuring productions from Moorpark’s theater and dance departments--has also brought in a large number of students.