Garrett College credit hours reach highest level since fall 2017
Garrett College announced Monday its highest number of fall semester credit hours in nine years.
The College reported 7,507.5 credit hours taken in fall 2026 – the largest number since fall 2017, when students registered for 7,825.75 credit hours. The 7,507.5 credit hours represent a 1.1 percent increase from last fall.
“We’re extremely pleased to see our enrollment continuing to grow,” said Dr. Richard Midcap, Garrett College’s president. “Our credit-hour enrollment has grown 31.5 percent since fall 2021.”
GC also posted its highest student headcount (746) in 10 years and the highest number of full-time students (409) since fall 2019. The College enrolled its highest-ever part-time student headcount (337), fueled largely by the largest-ever contingent of High School Dual Enrollment (HSDE) students (267).
“Almost 36 percent of our student headcount now comes from HSDE,” observed Dr. Robert “JR” Kerns, GC’s dean of student affairs. “We have a great partnership with Garrett County Public Schools, and a growing number of home-schooled students are also taking advantage of this opportunity.”
Midcap noted growing enrollment “becomes a challenge when the base keeps growing.”
“Our credit hours increased almost 13 percent last fall compared to fall 2024,” said Midcap. “To add another enrollment increase on top of that was pretty impressive.”
Garrett College’s summer 2026 enrollment – which was the first credit enrollment period in Fiscal Year 2027 – grew nearly 17 percent. This fiscal year’s combined summer and fall enrollment is 2.52 percent higher than it was in FY26.
“It’s always a positive sign to have growth in those two leadoff semesters for a new fiscal year,” said Kerns.
Photo Cutline: Photo by John Rudd | Garrett College President Dr. Richard Midcap speaks at this fall’s New Student Orientation. Garrett College reported its largest fall-semester headcount enrollment (746 credit students) since fall 2016.
