FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 01, 2009

BATON ROUGE - For the second year in a row, a total of 17 Louisiana Community & Technical College System (LCTCS) schools made the ranks in the "Fastest growing two-year public institution" polls conducted by Community College Week, a publication that calls itself "the independent voice covering community, technical and junior colleges."

The results were reported in the annual "Special Report: Fastest Growing Community Colleges" in the November 30, 2009 issue. The article named the top 50 fastest growing public two-year colleges in four categories ranging from "fewer than 2,500 students" to "10,000 or more students." The results were based on data collected between Fall 2007 and Fall 2008.

Louisiana Technical Colleges earned five out of the top ten spots in the "less than 2,500 students" category, with Louisiana Technical College, Oakdale campus named the fastest growing two-year public college in the nation in its category. Enrollment at the campus grew by an impressive 113.9% from 310 students enrolled in Fall 2007 to 663 students in Fall 2008. Overall, 14 LCTCS schools made the list in the "under 2,500" category.

South Louisiana Community College moved into the "2,500 to 4,999 enrollment" category for the first time. The college ranked number 12 (out of 50) with a 19.9% enrollment increase with 2,944 students in Fall 2007 jumping to 3,531 students in Fall 2008.

In the "5,000 to 9,999 enrollment" category, Baton Rouge Community College was named the 47^th fastest growing public two-year college with an 8.2% increase from 7,031 students enrolled in Fall 2007 to 7,606 students in Fall 2008. Delgado Community College was named the 28th fastest growing two-year public college in the 10,000 plus enrollment category with a 9.4% increase from 13,210 students in Fall 2007 to 14,450 students in Fall 2008.

"I am extremely proud of all of our colleges and especially the seventeen schools that were recognized in the recent issue of Community College Week," said Dr. Joe D. May, LCTCS president. "Our colleges are working diligently to ensure that the citizens of Louisiana are getting a first-class education and are helping to address our state's workforce needs. As our colleges continue to have record breaking enrollments, we are providing an invaluable service to our state, and the results of this survey are a confirmation that we are supplying exactly what our state needs in the areas of workforce development and academic services."

Listed below are the remaining LCTCS schools that made the list:

Less than 2,500 students category:

• Louisiana Technical College, Jefferson campus - Rank: 3; Fall 2007 enrollment: 639; Fall 2008 enrollment: 1,222; Growth: 583 students; Percent Growth: 91.2%
• Louisiana Technical College, Ruston campus - Rank: 4; Fall 2007 enrollment: 126; Fall 2008 enrollment: 218; Growth: 92 students; Percent Growth: 73%
• Louisiana Technical College, Northeast Louisiana campus - Rank: 6; Fall 2007 enrollment: 263; Fall 2008 enrollment: 393; Growth: 130 students; Percent Growth: 49.4%
• Louisiana Technical College, Baton Rouge campus - Rank: 7; Fall 2007 enrollment: 1,490; Fall 2008 enrollment: 2,168; Growth: 678 students; Percent Growth: 45.5%
• Louisiana Technical College, Sullivan campus - Rank: 12; Fall 2007 enrollment: 1,080; Fall 2008 enrollment: 1,444; Growth: 364 students; Percent Growth: 33.7%
• Louisiana Technical College, River Parishes campus - Rank: 16; Fall 2007 enrollment: 735; Fall 2008 enrollment: 946 Growth: 211 students; Percent Growth: 28.7%
• Louisiana Technical College, Natchitoches campus - Rank: 18; Fall 2007 enrollment: 275; Fall 2008 enrollment: 352; Growth: 77 students; Percent Growth: 28%
• Louisiana Technical College, Gulf Area campus - Rank: 20; Fall 2007 enrollment: 359; Fall 2008 enrollment: 450; Growth: 91 students; Percent Growth: 25.3%
• L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College - Rank: 29; Fall 2007 enrollment: 1,296; Fall 2008 enrollment: 1,525; Growth: 229 students; Percent Growth: 17.7%
• Louisiana Technical College, Lafayette campus - Rank: 35; Fall 2007 enrollment: 969; Fall 2008 enrollment: 1,126; Growth: 157 students; Percent Growth: 16.2%
• Nunez Community College - Rank: 37; Fall 2007 enrollment: 1,442; Fall 2008 enrollment: 1,664; Growth: 222 students; Percent Growth: 15.4%
• Louisiana Technical College, Hammond Area branch campus - Rank: 38; Fall 2007 enrollment: 344; Fall 2008 enrollment: 394; Growth: 50 students; Percent Growth: 14.5%
• River Parishes Community College - Rank: 38; Fall 2007 enrollment: 1,163; Fall 2008 enrollment: 1,328; Growth: 165 students; Percent Growth: 14.2%

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Louisiana's Workforce Solution: The Louisiana Community and Technical College System enrolls more than 60,000 students at its institutions throughout the state. Providing a Day One Guarantee, our colleges strive to direct the high demand, industry-sensitive training our State needs. We focus on workforce and economic development, and on improving the quality of life of Louisiana’s citizens through educational programs offered at our 50 campus locations. Our System colleges include: Baton Rouge Community College, Bossier Parish Community College, Delgado Community College, L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College, Louisiana Delta Community College, Nunez Community College, River Parishes Community College, South Louisiana Community College, SOWELA Technical Community College, and the Louisiana Technical College, with campuses in eight regions throughout the state.