The Kenai Peninsula College has been the fastest growing college in the University of Alaska system for the past five years.
Director Gary Turner presented to the Soldotna Chamber luncheon where he said that the dorms which opened in August of 2013 are at 60% capacity.
Turner: “So it takes a while for housing to ramp up and get full, a lot of it is word of mouth with students, they go back to wherever they’re from whether it be Soldotna/Kenai or Fort Yukon, it spreads by word of mouth and students say boy I really want to go there! We’re right on target, I would expect to hit 80% next year or the year after.”
He said the vacancies in the dorms are currently helping increase interest in the Kenai River Campus.
Turner: “We bring in a lot of high school students and we put them in there for an overnight and they take a class or two, so it’s a great recruiting tool. Students who didn’t think college was what they wanted to do now say, ya know maybe I’ll try that maybe I’ll do that.”
Turner said the college will find out how the state’s tight budget will affect them after Governor Bill Walker finalizes the state budget.