As of Jan. 12, De Anza College on-campus enrollment has grown by 4.4 percent in the total hours per week a student attends a particular class, and 2.8 percent in headcount compared to last winter. De Anza’s fall-to-winter retention rate increased by 3 percent, meaning that more students have stayed with De Anza college and have been enrolling in more units. In a letter sent out to De Anza Faculty and staff last week, De Anza College President Brian Murphy wrote, “That these students are continuing their education reflects the excellent efforts of faculty in every division, and staff and administrators campus-wide.”

Murphy stressed that rates happen to be climbing at the a time when De Anza College has been investing, through retention grants, in new projects that will continue to feed back into a mechanism of increasing retention rates. “We requested retention grant proposals on Opening Day. In December, we funded almost all that were submitted, mostly at the requested amounts, from Business/Computer Science, International/Intercultural Studies and Language Arts, Murphy’s letter explained. “The response to strategic planning and the call for retention grants speak to the broad ethic of commitment and creativity that marks this college.”

Ehssan Barkeshli is the News Editor for La Voz. Contact him at [email protected].