During the past two decades, enrollment at De Anza College has grown steadily. The number of male and female students were about equal by the end of the 2000s, and the 2007-2008 school year saw a leap in enrollment of Hispanic students, followed by a decline in 2009.

Student enrollment demographics are reported each quarter to the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, where the numbers are analyzed, studied and compiled, according to the Institutional Research and Planning website.

“Data comparisons are generally made from fall to fall, not in other quarters,” said Marisa Spatafore, De Anza’s marketing and communication director. 

She referred to official Foothill-De Anza Web sources for enrollment demographics data over the last decade. This data includes statistical figures of students’ enrollment, both by quarters and by years. 

“We use the data in order to learn about our students and how to better serve [them]. A lot of data is also used for reporting purposes,” Spatafore said. 

The major factor behind an increase or decrease of certain student groups during the period is the state of the economy, which determines the availability of classes, the size of high school enrollment and the number of people returning to school for training, she said.

Full-time student enrollment numbers have grown since 2007, while part-time students numbers have decreased. The demographic data shows slight but steady growth of the number of male students since 2006, while the number of female students remained almost the same up to the end of the decade, culminating in near-equal enrollment for both genders by 2009. 

Hispanic enrollment in 2009 sharply decreased compared to the previous school year. 

“Again, the economy plays a role. The availability of classes and the size of high school enrollment [of Hispanics], which decreased in 2009 … remains very high. A college wide goal is outreach to historically under served populations and this continues … successfully,” Spatafore said. 

Another ethnicity trend is a sharp decrease in the number of African-American students in 2009. According to Spatafore, the decrease may be a result of the elimination of the off-campus Job Corps program. Spatafore attributes the same factor to a decrease of students from places in California other than the Bay Area. 

There was a jump in the “19 or less” age group in 2008. This is most likely due to students coming to De Anza rather than CSUs and UCs, said Spatafore. 

Enrollment of several age groups of students older than 40 sharply “jumped” in 2002, but has steadily trailed off. 

“The number of students returning for training or retraining is a key factor,” Spatafore said. “[It depends on] whether, and how much, people are employed, and the number of high school graduates attending.”

The number of students “undecided” on goals is steadily decreasing, while the choice of “transfer” as a goal is increasing the fastest. De Anza strongly emphasizes transferring, she said.

This data shows a general increase in enrollment, especially with younger generations.