(Estherville)– Officials at Iowa Lakes Community College say students there are taking more college credit hours this spring semester.
College officials say hours nudged upward to 31,408 while the number of students remained nearly stable.
Officials say the most significant increase is in the dual enrollment category where high school students study college-level coursework. Dual enrollments are up seven and-a-half percent.
Other strong numbers for Iowa Lakes were from online courses.The college is a partner in the Iowa Community College Online Consortium which is experiencing another year of record growth.
ILCC officials say in addition to the online courses, hybrid classes are also showing an increase in popularity.
Theresa Ziegler, Director of Distance Education and Global Learning Center for Iowa Lakes and Assistant Director of the Iowa Community College Online Consortium says the hybrid classes give students face-to-face contact with their instructor, but reduces the amount of time spent in the on-campus classroom by providing an online component.
Ziegler expects more growth in the future, saying the college hopes to offer new courses each semester.
Iowa Lakes offers more than 100 areas of study at its campuses in Algona, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Spencer and Spirit Lake.
