Campus News
February 17th, 2026
Garrett College spring enrollment highest in 13 years
Headcount finishes at 701, including a record 300 high school students
Garrett College recently reported its highest spring credit enrollment in 13 years with 701 students, including an all-time record of 300 through the High School Dual Enrollment (HSDE) program.
The 701 students represent a 3.6 percent increase over last spring and a 33.3 percent increase in five years. The 300 HSDE total is 1.4 percent higher than last spring and 77.6 percent higher than five years ago.
"We're extremely pleased with our spring enrollment numbers," said Melissa Wass, director of admissions and student recruitment. "We have a great working relationship with Garrett County Public Schools, which is reflected in the HSDE total, and we're building our full-time student enrollment thanks in part to new programs."
The College also reported 6,417.5 credit hours taken by GC's spring student population, the highest total in eight years. That's an increase of 4.8 percent over last spring and 28.9 percent increase in five years.
HSDE accounted for a record 1,418 credit hours in spring 2026, a 5.2 percent increase over last spring and a 54 percent increase since 2022, when the College began tracking HSDE enrollment as a separate category.
Student athlete headcount also continues to grow, with 128 student athletes registered for the spring semester. That's a 7 percent increase over last spring,
For the 2025-26 academic year – which includes the College's summer, fall, winter, and spring credit semesters – duplicated headcount rose 8 percent and credit hours increased 9.3 percent.
Associate Dean Kim DeGiovanni, who also serves as the College's registrar, said GC's expanded programmatic offerings played a key role in this year's enrollment increases.
"Our new radiologic technology program, as well as our first-year men's soccer program, are two examples of expanded options for our students," said DeGiovanni.
Dr. Robert "JR" Kerns, GC's dean of student affairs, said the College's investment in enhanced facilities is another factor in ongoing enrollment growth.
"Thanks greatly to the County, we've completely renovated our café, admissions, registration, financial aid, and business office spaces," said Kerns. "We've constructed a radiologic technology lab, relocated our art program into a renovated space, built a turf field, and begun a renovation to expand our athletics facilities. I think prospective students see all the exciting things happening at Garrett and want to be a part of that."
