Blinn enrollment drops in Bryan

For the first time in five years, Blinn College's Bryan campus recorded a decrease in its spring enrollment from the previous year.

Though overall enrollment within the Blinn system rose to 16,600 students in the current semester, enrollment at the Bryan campus, Blinn's largest, dipped by 2.14 percent from the spring semester of 2011. That dropped enrollment in Bryan to 11,085.

School officials have speculated that the state law requiring new students under the age of 30 to be vaccinated for bacterial meningitis may have had an impact on enrollment levels. The new law requires a student who was not enrolled in a higher education institute in the fall of 2011 to receive the vaccination at least ten days prior to the first day of the semester's classes.

Brandon Webb, who is in charge of the Bryan campus' marketing and media relations, said that there are many factors that contribute to enrollment numbers, but he attributed the decrease primarily to the vaccine requirement.

"All community colleges in Texas are open enrollment; and an immediate hold is placed on your enrollment until you prove that you had the vaccine," Webb said. "You had to have the shot no later than 10 days before the term, or else you're out of luck unless you do distance learning."

The last day students could have gotten the vaccine was January 7. The cost of the vaccine can range from $10 to $251, depending on the clinic and whether or not a student has insurance.

Conversely, the Bryan campus has seen an increase of 3.09 percent in the number of hours that enrolled students are spending in the classroom.

"As the economy dips, students tend to take more classes and be more efficient with their time in college, taking more hours while they're here," Webb said.

He said that number of hours being taken through distance learning has increased by 10 percent. Students who pursue distance-learning classes are not required to receive the vaccine.