ABAC SHATTERS SPRING TERM ENROLLMENT RECORD

Students at Abraham Baldwin College shattered another enrollment record Thursday when President Mike Vollmer announced that the ABAC headcount has now reached 3,003 students for the spring semester.

“It’s an incredible achievement, and I think the credit has to go to a hard-working group of faculty and staff members at our college,” Vollmer said. “We were astounded when the enrollment went over 3,000 for the fall term and now we have accomplished the unthinkable two semesters in a row.”

ABAC’s previous spring term enrollment high occurred last spring with a headcount of 2,656 students. During the 2002 fall semester, the enrollment reached an all-time high of 3,033 students. Registrar Beth Saxon said that normally the enrollment during the spring semester averages seven percent fewer students than the fall. That didn’t happen this spring.

“There are a lot of factors,” Saxon said. “The enrollment at ABAC on the Square in Moultrie is over 350 students, and that is an alltime high. We’re also up in our evening program numbers.”

Evening and Off Campus Programs Director Gail Dillard said 820 students are taking night classes on campus, another alltime record which is a 40 percent increase over last spring. Dillard said the Moultrie figures represent a 49 percent increase.

“We’re also teaching classes in Fitzgerald, Sylvester, and Nashville,” Dillard said. “Those numbers are not as large as Moultrie but we hope those programs will grow as we take a variety of classes to those communities.”

Saxon said 50 international students are enrolled for the term and over 100 students from states other than Georgia. She expects the student body to be about 54 percent female, which would correlate to the fall term which had the highest percentage of female enrollment in the history of ABAC.

Vollmer attributed that higher ratio of females to a tremendous rise in the number of nursing students on the campus.

“We have more nursing students here than any other single major,” Vollmer said. “That’s obviously a reaction to the number of jobs available in the nursing field and the fact we received a University System grant to assist LPN’s and paramedics who want to get their associate degree in nursing.”

Applications are now being accepted for the ABAC summer term which begins June 4. Admissions Director Angie Palmer said her office is also receiving applications for the fall semester which begins on Aug. 18. For additional information, interested persons can contact the admissions office at 1-800-733-3653 or visit the ABAC web site at www.abac.edu.

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