Spring Semester Enrollment Drops at UH-Hilo, HCC

A total of 3,901 students have enrolled for the spring semester at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, a drop of 102 students or 2.5% compared to spring 2012, university officials said today.

The decline was the first for a spring semester at UH-Hilo since 2007.

The university reached a record enrollment of 4,157 students last fall after eight years of steady gains.

Enrollment typically drops between fall and spring semesters.

Hawaii Community College, which has campuses in both Hilo and Kona, saw enrollment drop 9% for the current semester, to 3,238 students from 3,557 students a year ago.

That was the first decline for a spring semester since 2006 at HCC, which saw steady, double-digit increases in enrollment from 2008-2010.

Opening spring enrollment for the entire 10-campus University of Hawaii system was 55,373 students, a 2.3% decline from spring 2012. That included 19,073 students at the main UH-Manoa campus, which saw a decline of 82 students or 0.4% from a year ago.

The system’s seven community college enrollment was at 30,462 students for the start of the spring semester, down 1,463 or 4.6% from last year.

The only community college in the state to see an increase over the past year was on Kauai where enrollment stood at 1,370 students, up 41 from 2012.