State college enrollments may fill funded spots

Jennifer Knight

Thursday, July 10, 2003 | 11:36 a.m.

The Nevada State College at Henderson is enrolling students faster than it was last semester at this time, making it possible that it will fill the spots it is funded for, college officials said this morning.

The college has enrolled 212 students for its third semester of operation with just six weeks left before the start of the semester. Six weeks before the start of the spring 2003 semester, the college had only enrolled 125 students -- a number that increased 43 percent by the start of the semester.

"The good news is this year we will certainly meet the enrollments for which we are funded," Kerry Romesburg, president of the state college, said.

Of the 212 student enrolled thus far, 115 are continuing from last spring. If enrollment keeps pace and hits 500 students by the start of the semester in September, Romesburg said the state college will meet the enrollment goal of 300 full-time students set by the Legislature.

Lackluster enrollment in the previous two semesters prompted legislators to cut the college's state funding by roughly $10 million. The cut will mean the college will have to raise $300,000 in private donations to keep it going, Romesburg said.

"I have no doubt we will come up with that money," he said.

Two of the state's more conservative assemblymen recently proposed cutting the college from the budget altogether.

Romesburg said that lingering doubt left from legislative critics has caused some parents to hesitate before enrolling students, but he said there's no way of telling what effect that will ultimately have on enrollment.

"I tell (parents) that I don't really believe that the Legislature will eliminate us from the budget but none of us really knows," Romesburg said. "But it's a problem. It's a problem with us. It's a problem with students and it's a problem with our donors."