BAYTOWN, TX — A record-setting 7,280 students are pursuing associate degrees and certificates this fall at Lee College, marking a more than 5 percent increase from the previous year and representing the highest ever enrollment since the college was founded in 1934.
Preliminary headcount data from the 12th day of class also shows that the fall 2016 semester is the second consecutive fall semester that enrollment at Lee College has increased. Slightly more than 6,900 students were enrolled in fall 2015.
In addition, Lee College leads all community colleges in the state in the growth of contact hours — the number of hours that students are scheduled to receive instruction. More than 1.22 million contact hours have been counted this fall, an increase of 19.5 percent from fall 2014. Contact hours are the basis on which the state Legislature decides how to fund community colleges.
“Everyone played a role in helping us achieve these milestones,” said Pres. Dr. Dennis Brown, who touted the enrollment increase in an address to faculty and staff as they prepared to welcome students back to campus for a new academic year. He also noted that the college had received reaffirmation of its accreditation for the next 10 years by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, a major accomplishment and campus-wide effort that required the college to demonstrate compliance with 95 different standards.
“We continue to grow, and we continue to proudly serve the students and communities in our service area,” Brown said. “In every way and always, what you do makes a difference.”