More students are attending LBWCC this fall semester than last year, officials said Wednesday.

“Although the numbers are not yet final, we have a small increase in enrollment currently at 1,614,” LBWCC President Dr. Herb Riedel said. “However, we are up almost 5 percent in credit hours currently totaling 17,621. We are very happy about that.”

Riedel said that the increase in credit hours indicates that more students are taking more classes within the semester, helping them stay on track to complete their program of study on time.

“We advise students who are full time to take 15 credit hours per semester to complete an associates degree within two years,” Riedel said. “This increase also tells us that more students are taking advantage of the opportunities we have at LBW, and more people are realizing the excellent value they receive for their educational dollars by attending LBW.”

The increase comes after an 8.5 percent decrease in enrollment numbers, when comparing fall 2012 with fall 2011, and a 7.8 percent decrease, when comparing fall 2011 and fall 2010, according to Star-News archives.

The fall 2011 decrease was the first decline in five years for the college after it had four years of record enrollment numbers.

In fact, fall 2010, was dubbed the highest enrollment in the school’s more than four decades in existence.

LBWCC offers career-oriented certificates and associate degrees, as well as university transfer courses and associate degrees. It also provides specialized training for existing business and industry, workforce development and more.