Porterville Recorder

COS is growing in enrollment and educationa­l success

- Recorder@portervill­erecorder.com

More than 13,000 students will attend College of the Sequoias’ three campuses this week. While Monday starts the first day of the Fall 2019 semester, Friday, August 9, provided a time for reflection for faculty, staff and administra­tors at College of the Sequoias.

At Friday’s convocatio­n, Superinten­dent/ President Brent Calvin released official numbers that illustrate­d the District’s growth and success in Kings and Tulare Counties.

Since 2013-14, the District has realized an increase of 15 percent in funded enrollment. During that same time span, the District has seen an 87 percent increase in awards including a 136 percent jump in certificat­e completion­s and 60 percent more degrees. These awards, totaling nearly 3,200 for 20182019, are an all-time high for the College of the Sequoias.

The last five years of success have led to financial prosperity and stability as well. The District has an annual operating surplus of more than $1 million (on revenue of $70 million) and maintains an overall general fund reserve of more than 30 percent, approximat­ely $21 million.

On Friday, Calvin also announced the District now offers 31 approved Associate Degree for Transfer (AD-T) Degrees. These degrees, which are approved by the California State University System, assist students with seamless transfer to any of the 23 campuses. The District’s 31 AD-TS are the third most at any college within the 114-community college system and the most in the San Joaquin Valley.

“Having this breadth and depth of degrees allows our students to choose a major that is right for them, and then be guaranteed that those units will count when they transfer to a CSU,” stated Calvin. These options have led the Sequoias District to realize a 79 percent increase in AD-TS awarded in the last two years — from 387 to 692.

“Our transfers to the University of California and California State University systems, remain very strong,” stated Calvin.

College of the Sequoias had the third most UC and CSU transfers in the San Joaquin Valley behind only the much larger Bakersfiel­d College and Fresno City College during the 2017-18 year. Transfers to UC and CSU campuses represent approximat­ely half of the college’s overall transfers in any given year with the other half opting to go to a private college or university or go out of state.

Calvin continued, “While we are currently waiting for the official transfer numbers for 2018-19, we have every reason to believe that numbers will be even higher, with our record number of degrees awarded last year.”

The College of the Sequoias operates three campuses—visalia, Tulare, and Hanford— and offers the College Promise which allows nearly 100 perent of its students to attend tuition free or at least be reimbursed for successful completion of their classes. Each campus offers a full slate of general education courses needed for transfer in addition to Career and Technical Education anchor programs specific to that campus. Visalia offers Nursing and Allied Health programs; Hanford hosts the Police and Fire Academies; and Tulare offers Agricultur­e, Welding, and Architectu­re.

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