Three Jefferson County public school districts have seen a decline in their enrollment between 2014 and 2015, while enrollment at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Southeast Arkansas College has increased.
Watson Chapel School District Superintendent Connie Hathorn said his district enrolled 2,612 students from kindergarten to 12th grade as of Oct. 2, 2015. Watson Chapel had previously enrolled 2,689 students in May 2015. It saw a decline of 77 students.
“One thing I looked at was kindergarten had 188 students last year,” Hathorn said. “This year it is 159. You have to look at the population of the city, which is decreasing. [As a result,] enrollment is dropping. My biggest concern is educating the ones we have so they get a quality education. I want to increase enrollment.”
The Pine Bluff School District saw a decline in enrollment from 4,242 students in 2014 to 4,035 students as of Oct. 1, 2015, according to figures provided by chief of staff Cheryl Hatley.
The Dollarway School District reported 1,272 students in fall 2015, or a decline of 41 compared to 1,313 students in 2014, Superintendent Patsy Hughey said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
SEARK President Stephen Hilterbran said the college is enrolling more students for the first time in three years. SEARK College enrolled 1,437 students in fall 2014 and 1,496 students in fall 2015, Hilterbran said.
“We are very happy to be up in headcount,” Hilterbran said. “This is the turning point. A lot of four-year schools are increasing. This is the first time we have not been down by 150 students or 200 students.”
One reason stems from the college offering concurrent enrollment courses in which high school students receive credit for classes at the college, Hilterbran said.
“We have more concurrent enrollment because Watson Chapel hired another teacher,” Hilterbran said.
SEARK College students took a total of 14,471 credit hours in fall 2014 and 14,294 credit hours in fall 2015, Hilterbran said. This credit hour decline reflects fewer full-time students, he said.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is seeing an increase in freshmen enrollment and total student enrollment, university officials said.
First-time freshmen enrollment grew from 496 in fall 2014 to 684 in fall 2015, Linda Okiror, the associate vice chancellor for enrollment management and student success at the university said.
Overall student enrollment, including graduate students, grew from 2,513 in fall 2014 to 2,658 in fall 2015, she said.
UAPB Chancellor Laurence B. Alexander has attributed the rise in enrollment to several factors, including enhanced scholarship offerings; a return of the pre-licensure (generic) Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program; new science, technology, engineering and mathematics program offerings; and targeted marketing and recruitment efforts.