For the second consecutive year, Sowela Technical Community College has reported record enrollment, with nearly 3,500 students registering for classes this fall, the most in the school’s 76-year history.

Sowela’s fall 2014 enrollment breaks the 3,300-student record set last fall. The figure also represents a 33 percent spike in enrollment since 2010, the highest percentage increase ever reported at the school.

Sowela Chancellor Neil Aspinwall said many factors contributed to this fall’s record enrollment, particularly the success of the school’s fast-track process technology program, its new facilities and improved grounds, and its recent accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

“SACS accreditation put us on a level playing field with other colleges and universities; it gave us more credibility,” Aspinwall said. “Many people like to say, ‘Sowela is finally accredited.’ I always try to correct them and say, ‘We’ve always been accredited; we’ve just been accredited by the Council on Occupational Education.’ Now that we’ve been accredited by SACS, which is the gold standard, our qualification and credentials match that gold standard.”

Aspinwall said Sowela’s P-Tech program has almost doubled this year. The school’s industrial instrumentation program, he said, has added 175 to 200 students this fall.

“The buzz around town with these jobs is that people are coming here because they know that in a shorter period of time, at a cheaper tuition rate, they will be eligible for these jobs,” he said.

Aspinwall also said Sowela has increased its investments in advertising and marketing, producing high-quality videos of its programs and launching Saturday orientations to attract prospective students.

“I go to these orientations, and believe me, our multipurpose room is full,” Aspinwall said. “The students come and their parents come, so the word is getting out.”

Sowela’s 2014 fall enrollment comes on the heels of a record spring enrollment. In February, Sowela officials reported that more than 3,200 students registered for classes, making it the highest spring enrollment in the school’s history.

Aspinwall said room is being made for all of Sowela’s incoming students.

“Since nursing has moved out of the administration building, all of those classrooms now are being retrofitted and we’re turning them into additional (general education) classrooms,” he said, adding that Sowela’s new arts and humanities building and its new nursing building have increased the school’s classroom seats.

Aspinwall said Sowela remains on track to achieve its goal of admitting 5,000 students by 2016. “We have set a lofty goal,” he said. “I do believe we are on track. I guess when 2016 arrives we’ll talk about it then.”(Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman