Although posting another start to an academic year with enrollment lower than projections, Pennsylvania College of Technology believes the number could be on the rise soon.
At Thursday's board of directors meeting, Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour, president, announced that the current enrollment numbers about 1.5 percent below the projected amount.
But she also added that the college is "pleased" with the freshman enrollment, which is up 70 students from the previous year's totals. The number could've been even more, but Gilmour said about 450 students were denied parent-plus loans.
Gilmour said she couldn't explain why so many students were denied loans, but called it an "oddity." She said other institutes have seen the same problem.
"That's 453 students that didn't come to Penn College because they couldn't afford it," Gilmour said.
She added that the college will continue to follow and monitor the situation and hope to have those students enrolled in the college as soon as the situation is figured out.
Students transferring to the college from other institutions also is up 16 percent.
Gilmour expects the spring semester to be better than the fall.
"Spring is looking very good for us," Gilmour said.
She added that next semester is promising, even without the possibility of having those denied by loans enrolling. Spring applications are up 9 percent and 660 students are registered for upcoming open houses.
Gilmour said that she believes since the freshman enrollment is up, the low overall number is because of the low enrollments last year.
"We're remaining diligent in what we're doing," she said.
