BLINN COLLEGE REPORTING 10 PERCENT DROP IN ENROLLMENT FOR FALL 2020
TRUSTEES APPROVE AGREEMENT FOR NEW HOUSING ON BRENHAM CAMPUS
The Blinn College District has reported a noticeable drop in enrollment for the Fall 2020 semester compared to last year.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Blinn Board of Trustees, Vice Chancellor for Administration Karen Buck reported the College has registered 17,724 students for Fall 2020 terms. The enrollment total represents a 10.4 percent decrease from the 19,776 students registered at this point in 2019.
Buck noted that a variety of late-term 4-, 8-, and 12-week courses are still available for registration for the fall semester.
As of Wednesday, September 9th, Blinn’s Fall 2020 enrollment includes a 69.8 percent increase in online enrollment with 4,223 students. Enrollment at the RELLIS Campus also increased 6.5 percent with 2,751 students.
Enrollment to date also includes 1,961 students on the Brenham Campus, 6,774 students on the Bryan Campus, 95 students on the Schulenburg Campus, and 53 students on the Sealy Campus.
In other business, trustees authorized the College to negotiate and execute a ground lease and cooperation agreement with NCCD-Brenham Properties, LLC for the financing, design, construction, and operation of additional student housing on the Brenham Campus.
In January, the board authorized a new student housing facility that would follow the same public-private partnership model used to build Mill Creek Hall, a 464-bed residence hall that opened to full capacity for the Fall 2018 semester. Through the public-private partnership, the new residence hall will be developed on Blinn property, but constructed and managed by a private partner; this way, the College can increase student housing capacity without funding the facility’s construction.
Plans for the project call for two separate buildings, with one designed to accommodate 320 beds and the other to hold 184 beds. The complex is scheduled to open for students in time for the Fall 2022 semester.
The board also authorized the College to negotiate and execute a contract with PlanNorth Architectural Company for services related to upgrades to Leroy Dreyer Field on the Brenham Campus. The College received seven proposals in August for architectural services related to the planning, design, and construction of the upgrades, which consist of locker room improvements. The overall budget for the project is $2.5 million.