HAMPTON — Virginia Peninsula Community College continued its strong recent growth with 2025 fall enrollment numbers up and even exceeding their targets.
J.J. Bonavita, director of Analytics and Planning at the College, said the final numbers were 6,639 head count (HC) and 3,617 full-time equivalents (FTEs).
“That is a 3.6% increase in HC and a 6.8% increase in FTEs, which exceeded our goal of a 5% increase in FTEs this fall,” he said.
VPCC’s enrollment from summer 2024 through spring 2025, a standard reporting period, was the second consecutive year of enrollment growth.
“We’re headed in the right direction,” Estes said.
Bonavita was excited because fall enrollment growth at the college happened in almost every category:
- Dual enrollment was up 4.6% in HC and 9.8% in FTEs;
- Non-dual enrollment was up 3% in HC and nearly 6% in FTEs.
- Returning students were up nearly 5%, which included all students enrolled within the past three years.
- Transfer students combined, both VCCS and other higher education schools, were up 28%;
- Full-time students were up more than 13%.
“Taken all together, much of our growth stems from more students taking higher credit loads and an increase in students continuing or readmitting after stop out,” Bonavita said. “This bodes well for our retention efforts, though it is too soon to tell what our latest retention rates will look like.”
The numbers were down minimally in only two categories. There were four fewer new students (a 0.2% drop) and six fewer readmitted students (a 3.5% decline).
The student body at the college is becoming more diverse, with growth in nearly all racial and ethnic groups. The male population increased nearly 9%, while the female population remained essentially the same.
“Traditionally, about 60% of our student body have been female; this fall 55% of our students were female,” Bonavita said.
Spring enrollment, which has been open for a while, is looking strong, Bonavita said, with the college’s head count up 4% and FTEs up 8% at a comparable time to last year.
Estes credited the increase to several factors, including a diverse, flexible class schedule, staff presence at community events, and a revamped orientation process.
“All of those things are working,” he said. “The proof is in the numbers.”
All of which means the college is in a healthy financial condition.
“That’s something to be proud of because a lot of our peers can’t say the same thing,” Estes said. “A lot of our peers are under extreme budgetary distress. We’re not. We’re very healthy.”
For more information on the College, visit vpcc.edu.
