Officials: FVCC housing may increase enrollment

Flathead Valley Community College leaders are watching to see if the first on-campus housing set for completion this fall will bring larger enrollment numbers to the school.

During a March 20 board of trustees meeting, FVCC President Jane Karas said the college has about 50 student housing applications so far.

“I’d say about two-thirds of them are from out of our county,” she said. “And we haven’t really started advertising yet, so we’re moving along with that and look forward to having those full by September.”

Karas said 10 percent of those applications are from out-of-state students.

Board trustee Mark Holston said he thinks it’s interesting the college is getting so many students outside of the Flathead looking for a way to live on campus.

“That means more tuition,” he said.

Karas said it’s too early to tell if the housing will increase enrollment. However, she said she thinks it has the potential.

Karas said FVCC will track the programs that the housing applicants plan to attend. She said now that the college has housing, it will expand recruiting efforts to students for programs unique to FVCC.

FVCC is scheduled to offer the on-campus housing for students beginning in the fall of 2017. The units can house up to 124 students.

According to the FVCC housing web page, students can rent a single studio apartment for $3,240 per semester, and $2,160 during the summer. A two-bedroom shared apartment would cost $2,678 per semester and $1,786 in the summer.

There are 2,447 students taking courses at FVCC this spring, according to the community college. That’s 14 more students compared to last year. The number of full-time equivalent students reached 1,344, which is 10 more than last spring. Both numbers represent roughly a 1 percent increase over spring the previous year.

For more on FVCC housing, go to https://www.fvcc.edu/campus-guide/student-housing/.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.