Fall Enrollment -
Enrollment Slightly Up, FTES Down

The 2005 fall semester is underway and the final enrollment figures are in. Cuesta has a total fall enrollment of 10,781 students, up 218 students or 2.1 percent from fall 2004. Cuesta only met 89.9 percent of its Full Time Equivalent Student (FTES) target, with a total of 3,908. Weekly Student Contact Hours (WSCH) however should a 0.4 percent increase from the same time last year, with a total of 124,140.3.
Total fall enrollment for the San Luis Obispo Campus was 8,330, down 0.8 percent from 8,401 students in fall 2004.

Enrollment at the North County Campus jumped by 8.2 percent from last fall, with a total of 2,416 – up from 2,233 students. However, enrollment in the South County declined by 2.9 percent from last fall, with a total of 535 students this year. Distance Education continues to expand, showing a dramatic 48.2 percent increase from last year, with a total of 1,224 students.

Every student category, with the exception of new students and those declared “unknown,” showed increases from last fall. The number of new transfer students increased by 39.4 percent; returning students by 8.5 percent; high school enrichment students by 1.1 percent; and continuing students by 1.4 percent. The total number of new students decreased by 13 percent from last fall.

The San Luis Obispo Campus on its own showed a 14.1 percent decline in new students, with a 6.8 percent decline at the North County Campus and a 23.7 percent decline at the South County Center. New students in Distance Education declined by 23.7 percent.