BLINN COLLEGE’S DISTRICTWIDE SPRING ENROLLMENT HITS HIGHEST MARK SINCE COVID

  

Blinn College’s spring 2026 enrollment had the most students since the turn of the decade.

During Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, Vice Chancellor for Student Services Dr. Becky McBride reported a districtwide headcount of 16,600 students, up 3.14 percent from 16,094 students for spring 2025 and the highest spring enrollment since the COVID pandemic in 2020.

Dr. McBride said the increases are led by growth at the Brenham Campus, in high school dual credit and in online learners.

Distance education made up the largest portion of student enrollment at 4,386 students, up 3.25 percent from spring 2025.  That was followed by 3,764 students on the Bryan Campus, down 5.43 percent; 3,387 students on the RELLIS Campus, down 3.86 percent; 3,205 high school dual credit students, up 21.91 percent; 1,661 students on the Brenham Campus, up 9.85 percent; 34 students on the Schulenburg Campus, down 34.62 percent; 19 students on the Sealy Campus, down 17.39 percent; and one student at the Waller Campus, no change.  The Waller enrollment does not account for dual credit students, and Dr. McBride noted in the fall that many students who would be classified as Waller Campus fall under distance education.   

When speaking on the downturn in enrollment on the Bryan Campus, which has lost roughly 1,700 students since the spring 2023 semester, Dr. McBride said a majority of the state’s four-year universities are accepting larger numbers of students, meaning they are able to attend those institutions right away instead of going to Blinn to start out.

Board Vice Chair Rev. Randy Wells congratulated administrators and staff on achieving the higher enrollment figures, but expressed concern about the dwindling numbers in Bryan.  He asked if the College needs to re-envision the Bryan Campus’ role and suggested holding a workshop to further discuss the matter, saying he did not want to have “a whole bunch of buildings with nobody in them.”

Trustee Jim Kolkhorst asked about the financial impact to Blinn in terms of what it receives from dual credit learners versus full-time students.  Executive Vice Chancellor Leighton Schubert said all community colleges in Texas are seeing increases in dual credit enrollment due to the state’s Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program, which waives tuition and fees for eligible dual credit students and reimburses colleges for students who enroll.  He said while Blinn does not receive as much money in dual credit enrollment as it does for full-time students, it does not have to pay as much to educate those dual credit students, as they are still learning on their school district’s own campuses and with their own accredited faculty and staff.

Trustees also received an overview of May Minimester and Summer I enrollment.  Both 2026 figures saw a decline, as the May Minimester’s 891 students were down by 6.41 percent from a year ago, and the 5,158 students in the Summer I term were down 9.41 percent from last year.