For the fourth consecutive year, Motlow State Community College has the largest enrollment in school history and remains among the fastest-growing colleges in Tennessee, according to Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) official enrollment numbers released for the fall 2018 semester. Motlow's Smyrna campus is the largest.

Motlow enrolled 6,886 students this fall, a 4.1 percent increase over the 6,612 enrolled during the same period last fall. This compares with a 1.3 percent increase for all Tennessee community colleges combined for the fall 2018 semester. Final enrollment numbers are based on the preliminary census report from TBR.

Underscoring the impressive enrollment numbers is the fact that Motlow continues to lead all Tennessee community colleges in three-year graduation rate at 33.5 percent. This rate tracks first-time, full-time freshmen through the summer of their third year and counts students who earn associate degrees, short-term certificates, and long-term certificates from any community college in the TBR System.

Contributing to the strong enrollment numbers at Motlow are two important last-dollar scholarship programs, Tennessee Reconnect, and Tennessee Promise. According to school officials, there are 1,060 adult Reconnect students, and 1,913 Tennessee Promise-eligible students.

Full-Time Equivalency (FTE) for Motlow, which is a formula that determines how many students are attending full time, is 4,617 this year, a two percent increase over the 4,525 last year.

As a comparison, in fall 2014 Motlow had an enrollment of 4,793 and an FTE of 2,984. In just four years, enrollment has increased over 43 percent and FTE has risen over 54 percent.

SOURCE: WMSR