L.E. Fletcher enrollment up 6 percent

L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College has a 6 percent enrollment increase from the 2007 spring semester, according to the 14th class day credit enrollment figures.

The official enrollment figures haven’t been approve by the Board of Regents, but Fletcher spokeswoman Elmy Savoie said the unofficial number is 1,238 students.

The majority of the enrollment is in the general education classes, which consists of first-time college students taking core curriculum courses. The welding program also experienced a spike in enrollees.

“Fletcher offers some programs that are generally custom designed and can quickly respond to the needs of the south Louisiana work industry,” she said.

“The enrollment growth at our campuses positively reflects the hard work done by everyone in our system to educate and train Louisiana’s residents,” Louisiana Community Technical College System President Dr. Joe D. May said. “The growth of our system is good news, not just for us, but for the entire state of Louisiana.”

“As our enrollment increases, we will continue to see an increase in the workforce across the state which will in turn boost our economy. It is a significant win for everyone,” May added.

LCTCS officials said the new growth reaffirms the system’s recent bond commission approval for 23 capital outlay projects at 14 community and technical colleges around the state, including one at Fletcher.

“The ultimate goal is increasing capacity to meet the demands of future enrollment growth and the expansion of Louisiana workforce,” May said.

A total of $173 million in bond money was approved for the LCTCS building projects. The funds will generate $21.3 million in revenue for Fletcher.

“This obviously is something good for the citizens and the students of the area,” said Fletcher Chancellor Travis Lavigne Jr. “It’s an opportunity for us to expand our facility allowing us to provide much better services to our students.”

Lavigne said expansion is in the planning stages at this point.

“This will give us a better idea of what our general building plan and campus development will be for the next year 15 to 20 years,” Lavigne said. “We have an architectural firm that is working the plan right now.”

Fletcher’s general enrollment for summer begins on April 11. Applications are also being accepted for the practical nurse program in June.

Fletcher has enrollment opportunities in electrical, residential air conditioning, automotive studies and machine tool technology.

Enrollment figures for Louisiana Technical College Young Memorial Campus in Morgan City were not available as of press time.