The following story originally appeared on the Monrovia Patch website on September 23, 2013.
Citrus College Fall Enrollment Grows 13.9 Percent
By Melanie Johnson
Citrus College’s enrollment is on the rise.
The Glendora community college, which serves Monrovia, began the fall term with its highest enrollment in three years and more class offerings, according to a news release.
In the first week of the 2013 fall semester, the campus reported 13,530 students enrolled in credit and noncredit classes, a 13.9 percent hike over last year, according to officials. Course offerings also increased by 22.9 percent.
Citrus expects to add more classes for the winter and summer sessions.
“It’s been a tough few years, but we are finally rebounding and are able to offer our students who are so eager to learn the chance to take the classes they need and move on to the next phases of their education and professional careers,” Susan M. Keith, president of the Citrus Community College District Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “We still have a lot of work to do to get where we were before the recession hit, but we’re on our way and I’m positive that students will greatly benefit. Thank you to the voters of California for affording our students much needed opportunities.”
Campus officials point to the passage of Proposition 30 in November 2012, which allowed Citrus to add more than 200 class sections and become only one of 24 colleges to offer winter session courses.
Officials said the added classes will aid students looking to graduate or transfer to a four-year university.
“Citrus has received some of the highest marks in the state as we work to augment our transfer degree program to ensure it fosters student achievement and elevates our role as a College of Completion,” Superintendent/President Geraldine M. Perri said in a statement. “I again thank the voters for supporting Proposition 30, which has allowed us to provide these academic offerings.”
Citrus College offers 43 areas of study for associate degrees, as well as certificates and skill awards in 42 career/technical programs. Its 14 transfer degrees put the campus among the highest in the state, officials said.
Top five majors at the college include social and behavioral sciences, biological and physical sciences/mathematics, business, fine and performing arts, and language arts.
Citrus has one several accolades, including being named one of the nation’s top degree and certificate producing two-year institutions by Community College Week from 2007-2013 and listed in the top 50 community colleges in the nation by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education from 2010-2013.