photo by steed media service

Vestiges of disbelief still register on Lisa Fowler’s countenance. In fact, the overflowing room of education executives sat with expressions of shock and admiration pasted on their faces. They came to a seminar at a convention in Philadelphia to learn from Fowler how her Georgia Perimeter College (GPC) posted a record number of student enrollments, while other community colleges continue to reel from reduced school admissions. The throng of educators left the workshop in awe and with a blizzard of questions for the GPC braintrust.

Fowler, the vice president at GPC, pointed to the innovative programs the Atlanta-based community college implemented as to how it grew from 18,000 students to an historic high of 21,000 students in 2007, when experts predicted their numbers would drop precipitously to 13,000. One of the programs Fowler spoke about is the guaranteed admissions that enabled a more fluid and efficient entry into the school. “If they had a certain GPA, if they had an application with their coursework up to date, we could go ahead on the-spot and admit those students. That’s been huge for us,” Fowler says. Earlier admissions, Fowler elucidated, also meant quicker access to financial aid.

Another enrollment incentive is the tag agreement program that facilitates easier transitions into four-year institutions without the extremely cumbersome process and the maddening deduction of hard-earned credits. “Dr. Anthony Tricoli [president of GPC] used this for retention. And students are staying now, because they know they can get into the four-year institution of their choice. And they end up graduating from that institution. It’s really great. They get their associate’s with us, knowing they [have] an automatic in with the four-year institutions.”

Applications are up 55 percent and freshman enrollment at GPC is the highest, by far, in the state of Georgia. The number of enrolled students, already at jaw-dropping levels, is expected to grow even more. GPC accomplished this by using unorthodox methods — calling prospective students, following up, and allowing prospective students to view a financial aid video on the school Web site. Fowler said she hadn’t seen anything like it. “We looked to our best resources, which are our own employees, to come up with the solutions, which we really hadn’t done before,” she says of the staff’s efforts to procure students. “We have found that people were involved because they care about what they do and the school.” -terry shropshire

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