Prepare to see a lot of new faces on campus this fall. One month after fall registration opened, preliminary enrollment data show registrations continue to climb, especially among new students.

According to fall 2024 registration reports, enrollments for all ACC students are up almost 23% from last year and more than 29% from two years ago as of June 20. 

As for new students, since ACC announced the Free Tuition Pilot Program for the high school class of 2024 on April 1, registrations for all new students are up more than 27% from last year and more than 78% from fall 2022. 

Daily registration reports show almost every area of study across the college is seeing increased enrollments of at least 10% from last year. 

Growth by Area of Study

  • Arts & Digital Media: 23% increase
  • Business: 12.7% increase
  • Computer Science and Information Technology: 25% increase
  • Design, Manufacturing, Construction, and Applied Technologies: 7.2% increase
  • Health Science: 28.2% increase
  • Liberal Arts (Humanities and Communications): 18.7% increase
  • Liberal Arts (Social and Behavioral Science): 20.6% increase
  • Public and Social Services: 22%
  • Science, Engineering, and Math: 29.9% increase

Preparing for the Surge

“Supporting our students and community with the resources they need to succeed is our top priority,” says Dr. Monique Umphrey, ACC Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic & Student Affairs. “We are closely monitoring trends and remain committed to expanding our offerings to ensure we provide the necessary classes and resources to meet our students’ needs.”

To understand the demand for courses as part of the Free Tuition program, Instructional leadership collaborated with the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) to gather and analyze relevant data on direct-to-college students from the past three fall semesters. 

The data show that:

  • Students enrolling immediately after high school consistently take a common set of 20 courses. 
  • Courses include introductory classes in English, mathematics, history, government, and psychology as well as developmental courses that serve as corequisites in English and Math. 
  • Every incoming student with less than 12 semester credit hours must take a student success course.
  • Most students start at ACC without dual credit.
  • An average of 34% choose General Studies as their major. 

Based on this data, Instructional leadership created an action plan for adjusting the fall 2024 schedule to match enrollment trends. Additionally, they aim to help students declare a major early in their academic journey at ACC. Action items include:

  • Continually review data for course section demands and adjust as needed.
  • Continuous training on a dashboard developed with Enrollment Management to monitor demand in real time.
  • Use the dashboard to better understand incoming student applications by area of study.
  • Monitor waitlists to identify where additional sections are needed quickly.
  • Watch overall enrollments for patterns and subsequent actions. 

Instruction also developed a dashboard with OIRA to track active course sections for the top 20 courses, ensuring responsiveness to enrollment needs.

To support students in declaring a major, Instruction is implementing two programs for fall 2024. One involves a pilot program in several sections of the student success course with sessions on discipline and major exploration and a dedicated session with a faculty advisor.

The other is ‘Pathways Discovery Week’ from September 9 to 13, offering students sessions with academic divisions to explore different pathway options. Reflection on these sessions will be integrated into the student success course within the Student Development and Humanities areas.

Student Registration Support

There are still two months to register for fall classes. Students are encouraged to register as soon as possible to secure the classes and locations that best fit their needs.  

Students who need assistance registering can still get 1-on-1 support. The college will host Registration Rallies to provide registration assistance, academic advising, financial aid, and information on course selection to meet academic goals. 

Registration Rallies
Dates: Saturday, July 20, and Saturday, August 17
Time: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Locations: Round Rock, Hays, and Highland campuses

Registration Stations are also available throughout the summer. They’re located in the ACCelerators at the ACC Highland, Round Rock, and San Gabriel campuses. Staff will be ready to assist ACC students Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Students may also book a virtual session for support. 

Fall classes begin Monday, August 26. For more information, visit austincc.edu/fall. (Haga clic aquí para Español, austincc.edu/otono.)