Enrollment is down at San Joaquin Delta College at the start of the Fall 2019 semester, although the decline is not as drastic as earlier in the year.
School officials have said that enrollment at Delta College has declined a little less than 3 percent compared to last year.
That’s better than earlier in the summer, when news reports indicated Delta’s enrollment was down by 10 to 12 percent.
While overall enrollment at community colleges across California has been in decline over the last decade, the implementation of the new MyDelta online registration system may have played a role in the fluctuating numbers, as well.
Many students have shared their frustrations through the Delta College Facebook group with comments such as “Can someone please give the step by step on how to go about registering for classes with this new MyDelta system? It is proving hard to navigate,” and “I’m having so many issues with MyDelta portal, can someone tell me how I can enroll in classes for mountain house campus?”
These issues with the new portal have proved to be a contributing factor to enrollment decline in Fall 2019.
“Our recent Enrollment Express events were a big help. We were able to provide hundreds of students with services including registration, financial aid, counseling and more,” said Delta Public Information Coordinator Alex Breitler.
“It should also be noted that community college enrollment has declined nationally for nearly a decade now, as reported recently by Insider Higher Ed. California is one of the states with the largest decrease. Sometimes, when the economy is strong and more people are working, college enrollment slips. When times are hard we often see enrollment climb once again because more people are out of work and looking to retool for new careers.”
Since summer, Delta has been able to narrow the enrollment gap with helpful resources such as Enrollment Express events held before the start of the semester to aid students in navigating the new system.
Delta College is currently working to help its students with any enrollment issues they may have; as well as fixing controllable elements such as any issues with the new MyDelta registration system, to be better prepared and ensure easier enrollment for next semester.
“Whatever the cause for Delta’s decline in enrollment so far this year, we want to emphasize that it’s not too late to take classes this fall,” said Breitler. “With the recent expansion of free community college and the known quality of Delta’s instruction and academics, we’re confident that students across our region will continue to choose Delta College.”
