Its total fall enrollment is 11,498 students, a 24.5 percent increase, or 2,266 more students from the 9,232 that enrolled at Chattahoochee, North Metro and Appalachian technical colleges last fall.
Although college officials were expecting high enrollment because of the merger and the downturn in the economy, President Dr. Sanford Chandler said, "This exceeded what we were expecting."
"It is substantial," said Chandler, who was president of Chattahoochee Tech and Appalachian Tech before the merger. "We expected growth, but I don't think anything prepared us for this unprecedented growth. It has just been phenomenal, and our people have risen to the occasion."
However, on Wednesday, the first day of classes, Shakira Afolayan, 26, of Austell, said she didn't notice a change.
"I don't see the difference," said the second-year nursing diploma student who attends classes in Marietta. "Last semester, on the first day of school, (it) was so full. The same happened today. So I don't really see the difference."
The college has seven campuses - with two in Marietta, and one each in Austell, Acworth, Woodstock, Dallas and Jasper.
CTC spokesman John Furman said the merger could result in more programs being offered at the newly organized college. Those programs, he said, would include truck driving, auto collision repair and radiography.
"I am excited for our students that they have more choices for classes than ever before," he said.
The state board that oversees the Technical College System of Georgia approved Chattahoochee Tech's merger with the former North Metro Technical College in Acworth and former Appalachian Technical College in Jasper. The merger made CTC the largest technical college in the state.
For comparison, Kennesaw State University - the third largest state university - has about 22,400 students, Georgia State has about 30,000, University of Georgia has approximately 35,000 students, and Southern Polytechnic State University has about 5,100 students.
On Friday, CTC announced that it's moving some of its programs to different campuses to have a central location to attract a wider range of students to those programs. For instance, the electrical construction and industrial electrical program will now be in Marietta and the North Metro campus will be home to electrical engineering and biomedical engineering, which is moving from the South Cobb campus.
Meanwhile, the South Cobb campus is currently undergoing remodeling. Students there are attending classes at the Marietta campus on South Cobb Drive and North Metro campus. Remodeling is expected to be completed by January.
In August, the Cobb Board of Commissioners gave CTC two new properties for existing campuses to expand. The properties, at 2680 Gordy Parkway in Marietta and 1578 Veterans Memorial Parkway in Austell, contain the Mountain View and South Cobb campuses.
And in July, the Georgia State Board of Nursing approved the associate degree in nursing program for Chattahoochee Technical College. The program will be offered beginning in January 2010 on the Marietta campus.
For Stephanie Crocker, 26, of Smyrna, who is completing her nursing diploma, the merger is a positive thing.
"I guess it's kind of a good thing since everybody in the program at different schools are on the same page," Crocker said. "Instead of one college teaching one thing and another college teaching totally something different."
It costs $40 per credit hour, plus fees, to attend CTC. Full-time students take 12 hours, which would be $480 plus fees each quarter. Some health-related programs charge $60 per credit hour.
Post a Comment
Follow us on Twitter!