Enrollment booming at Round Rock Higher Education Center

ROUND ROCK, Texas — An initiative to bring higher education opportunities closer to the people of Round Rock and Williamson County has proven so successful that officials say enrollment will show a 40 percent increase this fall.

Established in 1998 as the North Austin/Williamson County Multi-Institution Teaching Center (The MITC), the center was recently renamed the Round Rock Higher Education Center: SWT, ACC and Temple College at Taylor, and the director there says business is booming.

Enrollment in upper level and graduate courses in the fall of 1998 was 550. This fall, center officials say that preliminary enrollment stands at 1,496 and they predict the new name will help the center grow even larger. Hundreds of additional students are enrolled through the center’s lower division programs.

“The name we were using for marketing purposes, ‘The MITC,’ was unclear. We found it created problems with name recognition and public awareness. People just didn’t know what a MITC was,” said Edna Rehbein, center director.

Through the Round Rock Higher Education Center partnership, SWT offers five undergraduate degree programs, 15 master’s programs and several advanced certificates. Austin Community College and Temple College at Taylor offer a variety of associate degree programs, workforce training programs and lower division work that applies directly to SWT’s undergraduate degree offerings.

Rehbein said the center’s name change will help marketing by directly linking the initiative to higher education and more closely tying it to the constituents it serves. Center officials will also continue to carefully monitor the higher education needs of the area, she said.

“Our purpose has been to build a coalition to continually assess and respond to the educational needs of the Round Rock, Williamson County and the North Austin community by providing coordinated associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, workforce training and adult education,” Rehbein said.

For further information on the Round Rock Higher Education Center and coursework offered there, call (512) 219-5798.