With a new building scheduled to open this fall, Carroll Community College welcomed a significant number of new students on the first day of the semester.

Preliminary enrollment figures as of the first day of classes showed a 10 percent increase in credit head-count. Official enrollment figures are recorded at the end of the third week of classes.

The increase in students and classes has campus space at near full capacity at peak times. Anticipated future growth will be accommodated by the opening of Classroom Building Four in late October. A formal dedication ceremony will be held on Nov. 20, 2009.

College President Dr.Faye Pappalardo said, “On the first day of classes, I was pleased to see that so many new students recognize how Carroll Community College offers a quality education.”

Dr. James Ball, vice president of Academic and Student Affairs said, “We are seeing a gamut of reasons for the surge but I think it is best framed up by the value we provide—a quality education at a reasonable cost, during times when individuals have to be more mindful of the cost of everything. Higher education is an expensive endeavor and if you can begin by reducing initial costs and transferring to a university later, in today’s economy it would be foolish not to take that path.”

Karen Merkle, vice president of Continuing Education and Training, said “Based on last year’s enrollments, there is an increase in career program enrollment. An example is the allied health area which has a 25 percent increase in enrollment over 2008. We have larger classes and we had to add newsections in some areas.”

The opening of Classroom Building Four is expected to address the capacity issues the college now faces. The building consists of three floors and includes classrooms, labs, offices, and student support space. In addition, the building will house a full-service cafeteria, the Child Development Center, conference space, and multimedia computer labs. The project also involves renovations to existing space on campus, primarily in the Babylon Great Hall “A” building.

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