This story has been updated.
Tuition assistance, high school partnerships and new programs have fueled record enrollment at colleges and universities across the San Antonio area this year, with more predicted in the years to come. That could be a boon for the economy, workforce participation and educational attainment in the future, according to college leaders who spoke to the San Antonio Report.
Promise programs, which pay for student fees and tuition, bolstered enrollment at UTSA and the five colleges that make up the Alamo Colleges District, according to numbers provided by the schools.
At the five Alamo Colleges, a record-breaking 70,000 students enrolled, with 14,000 of those enrolling in college for the first time.
The Alamo Promise program is credited with breaking admissions records at Alamo Colleges, as more than 6,000 new first-year participants registered for the fall semester, the highest-ever number of freshmen enrolled.
Mike Flores, the district’s chancellor, said the overall growth of enrollment tracks with the gradual expansion of Alamo Promise, which covers fees and tuition for Bexar County high school students.
“We started four years ago at 25 high schools and then we stair-stepped each year,” Flores said. “It is now countywide, [including] any graduating high school senior from a public high school, from a private school, parochial and even homeschool students.”
In addition to exceeding new student enrollment records, continuing student enrollment increased by over 8% this year, compared to a 1% decrease last year.
Another area of growth for the Alamo Colleges has been dual enrollment programs, where another 14,000 students are taking classes at one of the five colleges while still enrolled in high school, according to Flores.
The numbers buck national trends, where growth in community college enrollment has slowed or turned into declines in several areas.
With more students attending…
