PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College continued to grow to record enrollment highs in the winter quarter with an 11 percent increase to 1,785 over the same day last year.

The figure is as of Jan. 21 for state-funded full-time students, or those for whom the college receives matching state funding for their tuition.

These students are included in the count because enrollment can change from day to day.

Because enrollment has increased so quickly and by so much, the school is actually about 80 students over the state-funded number.

The winter quarter 2011 count is 178 students, or 11 percent, more than the 1,607 students in winter quarter in 2010, which was the previous record, according to the college statistics.

Most of the sites have also seen an increase in enrollment.

“It is pretty much across the board increasing,” said Peninsula College President Tom Keegan.

Steady or gaining

The only branch that did not increase in enrollment was Port Townsend, which had 99 students in both years.

Other areas such as continuing education and community education did have increases, Keegan said.

The Port Angeles campus went from 1,043 in winter 2010 to 1,134 in 2011.

That is an increase of 91 students, or 8.7 percent.

The Forks campus saw the largest percentage of increase, going from 49 students in 2010 to 70 students in 2011 — an increase of 21 students, or 43 percent.

Online classes also saw increased enrollment, from 416 in 2010 to 482 in 2011.

That is an increase of 66 students, or 16 percent.

Economy’s effect

Keegan said the growing number of students is related to the downturn in the economy.

When jobs are lost, people frequently return to a community college for retraining and new job opportunities.

“It is an inverse relationship with the economy,” he said.

“Just as we have seen an increase as the economy goes down, we expect to see a decrease in enrollment when the economy begins to improve.

“But we will count [the future declining enrollment] as a success as people return to work.”

Budget cuts

With a 10 percent budget cut from the state Legislature over the last biennium and anticipated cuts in the 17 percent range as the state continues to address a deficit, Keegan said he is worried about being able to accommodate larger numbers of students with less money.

Keegan said that so far the college has maintained service levels for students.

“That being said, I am concerned about our ability to maintain this level of service or even more students with the continuing cuts from the Legislature,” he said.

Potentially, if the cuts continue, it could mean higher tuition — which is not decided by the college but by the state Board of Community and State Colleges — and possibly fewer students being able to attend classes, he said.

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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.