For the second fall in a row, Salina Area Technical College has reached a major milestone with more than 1,000 students enrolled.

According to the school, data collected for the Kansas Board of Regents on the 20th day of fall classes indicates Salina Tech has 1,008 students, up 1 from the 1,007 in the fall of 2023.

On a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis, enrollment was 568 this fall, identical to the FTE from 2023 and crossing the 500 mark for the second time in as many years. FTEs are calculated by dividing the total number of credit hours students are enrolled in and dividing by 15.

In percentage terms, headcount increased 0.1 percent over last year, while FTEs were flat at 0.0 percent.

Over the past five years, Salina Tech’s headcount has grown by 27.4 percent, and FTEs have grown by 30.3 percent – keeping Salina Tech as the fastest-growing college in Kansas. Looking back, the highest number of students enrolled at Salina Tech have occurred in five of the past six years. The lone exception was fall 2020 which was limited due to the pandemic.

Salina Tech President Greg Nichols said he expected the growth to level off and explained what it represents.

“The college has experienced tremendous growth in my tenure as president,” Nichols said. “That is due in large part to the great work of our employees to achieve accreditation and meeting the needs of our regional partners in workforce.”

“We expected limited growth this year due to lack of space to accommodate more students,” he added. “Our board accepted the challenge of growing the college facilities to meet future demand.”

Nichols noted new technical programs were added including Pharmacy Tech and Industrial Maintenance and Automation this past year, to help meet workforce needs.

“This necessitates more instructional space which has been supported throughout our community,” Nichols said. “Our new building will help us reach future goals of growth.”

Across Kansas, the state universities experienced an average enrollment increase of 2.3 percent. The state’s community colleges averaged a 5.9 percent increase, while the six technical colleges averaged an 5.3 percent increase in enrollment. Compared to five years ago, university enrollments are down 2.8 percent, community colleges down 4.9 percent, while technical colleges are up 18.1 percent.

“I think people really do see the shining diamond we have in Salina that grows and stabilizes our economy,” he concluded.