Glendale
Community College
NCA
Self-Study Report, January 2002
Human Resources – Student Demographics
GCC has the second
largest enrollment of all the Maricopa County Community Colleges. In Fall 2001, 19,775 students were
enrolled on the official census date (45th day), with a full-time
student equivalent (FTSE) of 8,668.
At Maricopa, FTSE is defined as one student taking 30 credits during an
academic year.
During the
mid-1990’s GCC’s enrollment declined slightly, a trend that was seen across the
District. Since Fall 1998, College
enrollment has increased a cumulative 15%. With the growth of the west and north valley, it is
anticipated GCC’s enrollment will continue to grow. The College is currently working on enrollment projections
based on 2000 Census data.
Since 1991, GCC’s
student body has become increasingly diverse. In Fall 2001, 29% of the students were minorities compared
to 17% in Fall 1991. This
increasingly diverse population complements and adds to the College’s transfer
mission. In Fall 2001, 46% of the
students indicated they wanted to transfer to a four-year institution while 27%
wanted to improve/learn skills, change careers, or gain employment. A variety of demographic trend data is
available on the web at
http://www.dist.maricopa.edu/eddev/ir/trends/index.html
|
Age of Students |
||||||
|
|
Fall 1995 |
Fall 1998 |
Fall 2001 |
|||
|
15-19 |
3,808 |
21% |
4,216 |
23% |
5,590 |
28% |
|
20-24 |
4,604 |
26% |
4,743 |
26% |
5,060 |
26% |
|
25-29 |
2,357 |
13% |
2,375 |
13% |
2,187 |
11% |
|
30-39 |
3,414 |
19% |
3,065 |
17% |
3,008 |
15% |
|
40-49 |
2,104 |
12% |
2,079 |
12% |
2,052 |
10% |
|
50-59 |
810 |
5% |
848 |
5% |
904 |
5% |
|
60+ |
394 |
2% |
326 |
2% |
254 |
1% |
|
Undeclared |
240 |
2% |
436 |
2% |
720 |
4% |
|
Total |
17,731 |
100% |
18,088 |
100% |
19,775 |
100% |
Source:
Maricopa Trends and Maricopa’s Institutional Research Data Warehouse (IRDW)
|
Ethnicity of Students |
||||||
|
|
Fall 1995 |
Fall 1998 |
Fall 2001 |
|||
|
American
Indian |
277 |
1.5% |
317 |
1.8% |
351 |
1.8% |
|
Asian |
674 |
3.8% |
746 |
4.1% |
943 |
4.7% |
|
Black |
667 |
3.8% |
740 |
4.1% |
892 |
4.5% |
|
Hispanic |
2,223 |
12.5% |
2,801 |
15.5% |
3,567 |
17.8% |
|
White |
13,294 |
75.0% |
12,628 |
69.8% |
12,838 |
64.0% |
|
Other |
596 |
3.4% |
856 |
4.7% |
1,447 |
7.2% |
|
Total |
17,731 |
100% |
18,088 |
100% |
19,775 |
100% |
Source: Maricopa Trends and Maricopa’s Institutional Research Data Warehouse (IRDW)
|
Full-Time and
Part-Time Headcount |
||||||
|
|
Fall 1995 |
Fall 1998 |
Fall 2001 |
|||
|
Full-Time |
4,515 |
26% |
4,783 |
26% |
5,718 |
29% |
|
Part-Time |
13,216 |
74% |
13,305 |
74% |
14,057 |
71% |
|
Total |
17,731 |
100% |
18,088 |
100.0% |
19,775 |
100% |
Source: Maricopa Trends and Maricopa’s Institutional Research Data Warehouse (IRDW)
|
Day / Evening
Headcount |
||||||
|
|
Fall 1995 |
Fall 1998 |
Fall 2001 |
|||
|
Day |
9,952 |
56% |
10,204 |
56% |
11,786 |
60% |
|
Evening |
7,779 |
44% |
7,884 |
44% |
7,989 |
40% |
|
Total |
17,731 |
100.0% |
18,088 |
100% |
19,775 |
100% |
Source: Maricopa Trends
and Maricopa’s Institutional Research Data Warehouse (IRDW)
For the past 3
fall semesters, GCC has administered Faces of the Future, a national survey developed by American College
Testing (ACT) in collaboration with the American Association of Community
Colleges (AACC) to profile community-college students across the country. In Fall 2000, 392 credit students
completed the survey. Several of
the findings include:
· In general, GCC students' parents have more
education than the
national sample. 60.1% of GCC
students’ mothers and 59% of fathers have completed some college, compared to
about 50% nationally for each
· 23.1% of GCC students’ mothers and 25.1% of
fathers have a bachelor's or higher degree, compared to 17.6% and 20.9%
nationally
· 77.2% of GCC students work at least 21
hours per week compared to 66.3% of students in the national sample
· GCC students are more likely to be employed
full-time (38.8%) as compared to 28.6% nationally
· GCC students are less likely to be unemployed (8.7%) than their national counterparts
(10.0%)
· In general, the annual incomes of GCC students are higher than the
national sample
· The College has significantly increased
knowledge of its students through data and analysis generated by the Office of
Institutional Effectiveness
· The IE Office created web pages that allow
faculty and staff to monitor changes in student demographics
Team 2 conducted an
initial analysis of factors likely influencing areas of improvement and their
relationship to the measures of success, which included drawing adequate
numbers of recent high-school graduates from feeder schools to GCC each fall,
effective recruitment of a diverse student body (including at-risk, honors,
athletics, disabled, and minority students), and that student demographics
mirror our service-area demographics.
Since ASU West began offering a full four-year degree in Fall 2001, GCC
faces the potential loss of students, primarily recent high-school
graduates. One apparent weakness
is that GCC has no “branding” for marketing purposes, such as a common,
immediately identifiable logo or image.
The College does provide universal access to technology with no student
fee and extensive advising for students, both of which help to attract and
serve students.
· Develop a strategic marketing plan related
to student demographics
· Adopt one identifiable logo as part of an
overall marketing plan
· Increase parity of staff demographics to
student demographics
· Have advisors visit feeder schools
year-round on a regular basis to increase the number of recent high-school
graduates who enroll
Although GCC’s
student body continues to become increasingly diverse, there is a disparity
between the sectors of GCC’s service area. The older, more established service areas central to and
south of the College represent the closest in proximity and largest population
with incomes well below the county’s average income. Those areas north, northwest, and northeast of the College
are growing, are primarily white, and have incomes above the county’s average. It will be a challenge for GCC to meet
the varying needs of these different service areas. The branding strategy should focus on GCC’s record of
academic performance.