Enrollment at Alberta’s colleges is up across the board and Portage College is feeling the rising tide as well.
902 students will be attending the college this year, 128 more than the year before. Experts suspect the province-wide jump in new students is likely due to the faltering economy, causing many Albertans to try and develop a more marketable skill set.
“Actually, in the beginning we were worried,” says Communications Supervisor Jamie Davies. “Some students withdrew their application because they didn’t want to lose the jobs that they currently had.” However, this quickly proved to not be any cause for concern. A 16% rise in the student body might make one worry about available space, but Davies says that isn’t an issue either. “We’ve seen this year, a difference in our housing numbers. A lot of students haven’t been using housing or dorms. We’re low in numbers so that kind of links to the fact that more local people are coming to the college.”
In a statement released today, Portage College President & CEO Dr. Trent Keough said the University Transfer Studies and Business programs showed the most dramatic increases.