MAYHEW -- East Mississippi Community College was braced for crowds at registration this fall, but reality surpassed expectations as EMCC posted an enrollment increase of nearly 26 percent over last year.

EMCC President Dr. Rick Young attributes the response to two factors: "First, our economy is still struggling to recover from a recession. In this kind of environment, when businesses are forced to downsize, you see people returning to community colleges for classes and training to improve their chances of transitioning into a new job."

The second factor was a districtwide tuition-guarantee program.

 "It may seem like a strange time for our college to offer tuition guarantee. EMCC is in the same economic fix as many of the people we serve. Just as many households are looking for ways to cut back on expenses, EMCC is adjusting to a 5 percent state budget cut, the second in as many years," Young said.

"But this is no time for EMCC to do less, because it's during bad times that people need affordable education options the most."

EMCC serves students at two main campuses, Golden Triangle/Mayhew and Scooba, and four branch locations, Columbus Air Force Base, the West Point-Clay County Center, Macon and Naval Air Station Meridian. Last year, EMCC's fall enrollment was 4,176. Preliminary numbers for fall of this year show an enrollment of 5,257, an increase of more than 1,000 students.

The biggest group of students, more than 3,800, enrolled for fall classes at EMCC's commuter campus in Mayhew.

 "Registration at the Golden Triangle campus was just unbelievable. I have to say the biggest kudos go to our financial aid staff. They had students lined up from the time the doors opened in the morning until after 9 o'clock each night, and then stayed even later to catch up on the paperwork," said Cindy Johnson, EMCC's Tech Prep coordinator.

Linda Gates, district director of Job Placement and Work-based Learning, has seen enrollment grow by more 500 percent during her years with the college.

"When I began working at EMCC 14 years ago, we only had about 1,000 college credit students districtwide. So it is mind-boggling to see how many students we have now at our campuses and branch locations," Gates said. "When I see the students in the halls, I want to say to them, 'You've made a wise decision, so hang in there.'"

The story was the same at EMCC's residential campus in Scooba, where enrollment exceeded 1,000 students for the first time, and at the college's branch location at CAFB, where enrollment jumped by more than 50 students.

EMCC's district is made up of Lowndes, Clay, Oktibbeha, Noxubee, Kemper and Lauderdale counties. But the college draws students from throughout East Mississippi and West Alabama. Statistics show the highest numbers of fall 2009 students, in descending order, came from these counties: Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay, Noxubee, Webster, Lauderdale, Kemper, Monroe, Winston and Chickasaw.