News

ECC enrollment sees a 4% increase

Justin Gonzalez, Staff Writer and podcaster

September 8, 2025

Focused in conversation, David Rudden answers live questions about ECC’s tuition. “ECC has the 3rd lowest tuition rate in the state”

On August 12th of this year, 8 days before the start of the term, President Dr.Heinrich reported that ECC welcomed 7,865 new students, with a 4.7% increase in credit hours.

David Rudden, managing director in institutional research, says that “ECC has the 3rd lowest tuition cost in the state”. ECC’s low tuition cost is one of the main factors that can explain the recent increase in enrollment. And with that comes the increase of money that ECC brings in.

Yet a lot of the recent enrollment can also be pulled from the dual credit program that ECC offers to high schools around the area. “Over the past 2, 3, 4, years more and more students have enrolled in the dual credit program”. High school students are obtaining their associate’s in arts before they even graduate, which can also explain why full time student enrollment has seen a decrease of 0.5%.

Gesturing with his hands, David Rudden, Director of Institutional Research; Being interviewed By Justin Gonzalez. (Vincent Garcia )

But these numbers don’t end up affecting scholarships in any significant way. “Student’s aren’t applying for scholarships,” Rudder says. The scholarships can’t get affected by the increase in enrollment because students aren’t applying. The money is available for students to obtain.

Later this evening, the board will be meeting again. During that meeting they’ll discuss future projections of enrollment for the spring semester, and for the next 2 years. ECC is confident that they’ll continue to grow since the 25% decrease they saw due to COVID-19.

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About the Contributors

Justin Gonzalez, staff writer and podcaster

This is Gonzalez’s first year at ECC pursuing an associate in arts. This is his first year serving on the Observer staff. Gonzalez joined because he had never done anything with writing newspapers or journalism before, so he wanted to take a shot at writing. He hopes to write about how music can affect people’s moods and behaviors, and his ultimate goal is to understand what it takes to be a writer. His personal motto is to live life having changed someone else’s. Contact information: [email protected]

Vincent Garcia, staff photographer and videographer

This is Garcia’s second year at ECC pursuing a career in Finance. This is also going to be his first year with the observer staff. He wanted to join to help be able to cover different stories around the area that need coverage. Vincent’s interested in covering topics that affect the areas and people surrounding ECC. He hopes by doing this, students are able to understand what is going on in their environment and if any big changes that may affect them are happening. Vincent’s personal motto is, progress, not perfection. Contact Information: [email protected]