Another new semester begins, and for Charter Oak this is one
for the record books. I have written in
this blog about the Go Back to Get Ahead program that the Governor and the
System asked us to run. You know that we
developed the project plan between the Governors’ State of the State speech in
early February and our launch date of June 2nd. Well the fruits of those labors have
arrived. To continue my metaphor, the
College has been engaged in some pretty heavy lifting for the past eight
months, and that work has delivered some truly amazing results.
First, our story: College enrollment is up 30% over last
fall at this same moment. And the number
of credits that students have registered for is up 40%. Let those numbers sink in for a second. Now let’s look at just the past two
months. In July-August of 2012, 279
students matriculated; in 2013, 270 students matriculated; but during
July-August of this year 503 students matriculants (of which 191 were GBTGA
students). That is an 86% increase in
matriculated students over the same two month period in either of the past two
years.
On the system level, our efforts have produced 6,381
inquiries that became 3,618 referrals, and then 1,250 applicants. As of today, the system has enrolled 825
students toward our ultimate goal of 1500. In simpler language, our advertising
efforts produced over 6,000 interested students. Well over half of these inquiries asked to be
referred to one of our 17 schools, and then 35% of that pool applied for
Admission. So far, nearly 60% of the
Applicants have enrolled. These are very
impressive results, and they are gaining national attention.
So it is safe to say several things about this fall. First, everyone at Charter Oak is thrilled that
we have grown so dramatically. Second, the ConnSCU system is very pleased with
our leadership and successful management of the Go Back to Get Ahead program. You
can expect that we will be asked to take a leadership position in other
projects as the system evolves. Third,
the staff is very tired but very satisfied with their efforts and thrilled
others are discovering the Charter Oak secret!
And finally, we aren’t done with this growth quite yet. We have another session that begins in late
October, and we expect to see more GBTGA enrollments between now and then.
Ultimately, this growth means that more returning students
will finally achieve their dream of obtaining a college degree. And this is what truly makes this moment
special.
As always, if you have questions, advice, or just want to
let me know how you feel, you can post to this blog or email me at
eklonoski@charteroak.edu.
Ed Klonoski, President
Charter Oak State College