By Genevieve Presley
Columnist
Amarillo College’s fall 2025 enrollment is up nearly 5% from last year, with more than 8,200 students taking classes across all AC campuses. According to Vice President of Enrollment Management Bob Austin, enrollment was already gaining momentum about 11 days before classes began on August 25.
“On the Washington Street Campus, a headcount of 4,046 is driving a 3% increase in credit hours over the five-year average. Meanwhile, East Campus Technical programs are surging, with 350 students enrolled and credit hours up 21% compared to the five-year average,” Austin said. “Getting off to a good start in the fall with enrollment has a positive downstream effect on enrollment for the spring semester and the summer semester, so I’m really pleased to see that enrollment we’re getting off to a good start in the fall.,” he said.
AC officials said the college plans to step up outreach to community members who could benefit from earning a certificate. Success coaches will also continue to contact students who haven’t signed up for classes.
“Another tool we hope to utilize more in the near future is the new registration hub,” Becky Burton, associate vice president of academic learning and services, said. “We hope to gain insights into enrollment trends and upcoming needs. We know that many classes fill very quickly and may create roadblocks to students registering. If we can use the registration portal to predict course needs in high enrollment areas, we may be able to add more classes and reduce classes in areas with lower anticipated enrollment.,” Burton said.
AC students said they have noticed an increase of students on campus. “On the first day of class, I spent an hour looking for a parking space even though all of the parking lots were full, including the really large one,” Alex Rhodes, a mass media major, said. “When I finally found one, I was almost late to class. There’s definitely an increase in people showing up for classes this fall, hopefully it’ll die down in the spring.”
Vice President of Academic Affairs Frank Sobey said the change in enrollment this semester is incredibly encouraging. “We have seen an increase in our overall enrollment. But what is especially encouraging to me is the amount of students that started in the fall who came back,” Sobey said. “We’re actually at a historical high for students who returned after the previous fall, and what we know about students who return for their second fall is that they’re more likely to complete. We have one shot to get them back in their second fall, and if we don’t then we most likely won’t see them again and we don’t want that.”
Sobey said beginning in fall of 2026 there will be a new program offered to help with enrollment known as Badger Bound. “Badger Bound is a promise program that we are offering to every high school in our service area for students that earn at least fifteen hours of dual credit through AC. They will be able to come to AC upon graduation and receive a free college education including tuition fees and books so that’s going to be an incredible incentive for students,” he said.
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