Temple College has online courses ranging from law enforcement to speech, and since last spring they went from offering 29 class sections to 107. Temple College recorded its highest spring enrollment ever with 4,300 students. Dr. Marc Nigliazzo, TC president, said in February that enrollment had never climbed above 4,000 in the spring. This 8 percent enrollment increase happened in a year where only a handful of community colleges reported growth.
Mark Smith, vice president of distance education, said a combination of different elements likely boosted enrollment, including the Texas Bioscience Institute, a restructured financial aid department, the college connection program which helps high school students apply for college and distance education.
Typically, online courses are taught by a professor who assigns reading, writes the tests and interacts with students using message boards. Office hours can be almost 24 hours a day, and students who get home from work don
