By Lorenzo Salinas

l.v.salinas@panews.com

 

For those seeking higher education close to home, they may be in luck.

Lamar State College Port Arthur has seen its enrollment numbers trending upward the past couple of years.

In spring 2016, enrollment was at 1,755; in spring 2017 that number rose to 2,072. For fall 2016, enrollment sat at 2,051 while in the fall of next year it rose to 2,293.

However, like other places, Harvey had an adverse effect on day-to-day — or in this case, spring-to-spring — routines.

“We definitely saw a small decrease in enrollment due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey and the floods in and around Port Arthur,” Gerry Dickert, public information coordinator, said. “The impact for many of our students was devastating.”

Spring 2018 enrollment dropped to 1,981 from last year, a decrease of less than a hundred students.

Dickert said the enrollment loss could have been much worse.

“One of the most impressive things that happened after the storm was the support of our community for our students. Our industrial partners became the backbone of that support,” Dickert said. “We received money and supplies to aid our students in their efforts to return to school. That really helped minimize the impact on our enrollment.”

New curriculum and expansion of existing programs no doubt helped Lamar Port Arthur in bolstering its student enrollment.

“The college’s Vision Statement is ‘Lamar State College Port Arthur strives to enhance lives by expanding opportunities through quality education,’” Dickert said. “With that as our guiding spirit, we are constantly working to improve our existing programs while also expanding the overall offerings with new programs.”

Dickert pointed to the college’s Allied Health Department as one of its their most successful outings for expansion.

“We offer students the chance to start out pursuing a nurse aide certificate but we don’t stop there,” he said. “Students can continue forward with their training, elevating to a licensed vocational nurse and, ultimately, a registered nurse through our Upward Mobility Program.”

Daisy Gaiton, a freshman at Lamar Port Arthur, is a nursing student in her second semester.

She took the certified nursing assistant test in high school and came to the college partly because she would not need to take it again. She also came to Lamar because of its location.

“My house is five minutes from here,” she said.

Dickert highlighted two new programs at Lamar Port Arthur: drafting technology and heating and ventilation & air conditioning. Both programs joined Process Technology and Instrumentation Technology in the school’s new Sheila McCarthy Umphrey Industrial Technology Center.

Even for those students just taking their prerequisite courses, Lamar Port Arthur seems to be a popular choice.

“I’m doing my basics here,” Hunter McCune, first-semester student, said. “I live in Beaumont, but when I had to choose between Lamar University or here, I chose here because I’m looking to go to A&M Galveston.”

“With the ongoing improvement to existing programs and facilities — and the addition of drafting and HVAC — we expect a continued increase in enrollment,” Dickert said.

After Harvey pushed back the start of the fall 2017 semester and the ice storm delayed the start of spring 2018 at the college, Dickert was nevertheless optimistic about Lamar Port Arthur’s upward trend in enrollment continuing.

“If we can keep Mother Nature at bay, I think we’ll see a continued increase in numbers as we get to fall 2018,” he said.

“The support of the community has been huge and the backing of our industrial partners has really assisted in the growth of the college, not to mention the growing number of career opportunities for our students.”