The hallways at the Fennell campus of Mohawk College would normally be bustling this time of year.
But the coronavirus pandemic has changed that.
College chief operating officer Paul Armstrong said there are about 2,000 students at the west Mountain campus at any one time since the fall semester began.
Normally, about 8,000 students would be on campus.
Numbers are also down at the Stoney Creek and McMaster campuses with 900 and 800 students on site at those locations.
Armstrong said most Mohawk students are doing online learning and only those who need to complete lab work or require hands-on learning are on campus.
Overall enrolment is down 12 per cent, much less than the 20 per cent drop the college had forecast last spring.
“The good news is it’s not down as much as we predicted,” Armstrong said. “We’ve made some good improvements and made some enrolments that we weren’t expecting.”
Armstrong noted some people on temporary layoff have returned.
Total enrolment at Mohawk is 11,678 students, including 2,755 international students.
Typically, domestic students pay $4,000 to $5,000 a year in tuition while international students pay $16,000 per year.
Armstrong said the federal government has been supportive, allowing international students to enroll at Mohawk and do their courses online without leaving their countries.
While tuition revenues are higher than expected, Armstrong said the college is losing more than $3 million in parking revenue.
Given the drop in campus attendance Mohawk is offering free parking this year to staff and students at all three campuses.
“We made a decision, the majority of staff and students are not on the campus, so it’s not fair to be charging people for parking, there’s no charge for parking in the fall and there’s no charge in the winter,” Armstrong said.
The college is forecasting a deficit of about $6 million for 2020/21.
While colleges are not supposed to run deficits, Mohawk has more than enough in reserves to cover the shortfall.
According to the college’s 2018-19 financial statement Mohawk had internally restricted assets or reserves of nearly $49 million.
Armstrong said budget preparations for 2021 have begun and he expects they’ll have an enrolment projection by January or February.
The hallways at the Fennell campus of Mohawk College would normally be bustling this time of year.
But the coronavirus pandemic has changed that.
College chief operating officer Paul Armstrong said there are about 2,000 students at the west Mountain campus at any one time since the fall semester began.
Normally, about 8,000 students would be on campus.
Numbers are also down at the Stoney Creek and McMaster campuses with 900 and 800 students on site at those locations.
Armstrong said most Mohawk students are doing online learning and only those who need to complete lab work or require hands-on learning are on campus.
Overall enrolment is down 12 per cent, much less than the 20 per cent drop the college had forecast last spring.
“The good news is it’s not down as much as we predicted,” Armstrong said. “We’ve made some good improvements and made some enrolments that we weren’t expecting.”
Armstrong noted some people on temporary layoff have returned.
Total enrolment at Mohawk is 11,678 students, including 2,755 international students.
Typically, domestic students pay $4,000 to $5,000 a year in tuition while international students pay $16,000 per year.
Armstrong said the federal government has been supportive, allowing international students to enroll at Mohawk and do their courses online without leaving their countries.
While tuition revenues are higher than expected, Armstrong said the college is losing more than $3 million in parking revenue.
Given the drop in campus attendance Mohawk is offering free parking this year to staff and students at all three campuses.
“We made a decision, the majority of staff and students are not on the campus, so it’s not fair to be charging people for parking, there’s no charge for parking in the fall and there’s no charge in the winter,” Armstrong said.
The college is forecasting a deficit of about $6 million for 2020/21.
While colleges are not supposed to run deficits, Mohawk has more than enough in reserves to cover the shortfall.
According to the college’s 2018-19 financial statement Mohawk had internally restricted assets or reserves of nearly $49 million.
Armstrong said budget preparations for 2021 have begun and he expects they’ll have an enrolment projection by January or February.
The hallways at the Fennell campus of Mohawk College would normally be bustling this time of year.
But the coronavirus pandemic has changed that.
College chief operating officer Paul Armstrong said there are about 2,000 students at the west Mountain campus at any one time since the fall semester began.
Normally, about 8,000 students would be on campus.
Numbers are also down at the Stoney Creek and McMaster campuses with 900 and 800 students on site at those locations.
Armstrong said most Mohawk students are doing online learning and only those who need to complete lab work or require hands-on learning are on campus.
Overall enrolment is down 12 per cent, much less than the 20 per cent drop the college had forecast last spring.
“The good news is it’s not down as much as we predicted,” Armstrong said. “We’ve made some good improvements and made some enrolments that we weren’t expecting.”
Armstrong noted some people on temporary layoff have returned.
Total enrolment at Mohawk is 11,678 students, including 2,755 international students.
Typically, domestic students pay $4,000 to $5,000 a year in tuition while international students pay $16,000 per year.
Armstrong said the federal government has been supportive, allowing international students to enroll at Mohawk and do their courses online without leaving their countries.
While tuition revenues are higher than expected, Armstrong said the college is losing more than $3 million in parking revenue.
Given the drop in campus attendance Mohawk is offering free parking this year to staff and students at all three campuses.
“We made a decision, the majority of staff and students are not on the campus, so it’s not fair to be charging people for parking, there’s no charge for parking in the fall and there’s no charge in the winter,” Armstrong said.
The college is forecasting a deficit of about $6 million for 2020/21.
While colleges are not supposed to run deficits, Mohawk has more than enough in reserves to cover the shortfall.
According to the college’s 2018-19 financial statement Mohawk had internally restricted assets or reserves of nearly $49 million.
Armstrong said budget preparations for 2021 have begun and he expects they’ll have an enrolment projection by January or February.