MOSES LAKE - As Big Bend Community College reduces class offerings, its enrollment numbers have dropped from last year's record enrollment.

The college reported full-time equivalent enrollment dropped 9.6 percent from 2010 enrollment.

A head count of students taking at least one class shows a 12.6 percent drop from fall 2010.

Big Bend's fall 2010 enrollment set a record, with 1,741 full-time equivalent students and a head count of 2,357. This fall, those numbers dropped to 1,571 full-time equivalent students and a head count of 2,059. Seventy-one percent of Big Bend's students are attending full time this fall.

Big Bend has lost 27 positions, including nine full-time faculty, since 2009.

Class offerings have been reduced, resulting in long waiting lists for students this fall. Because of state budget restrictions, the college did not open new sections to meet demand as they have done in the past. Classes with low enrollment were canceled.

The school's budget reductions make it harder to meet demand for its services, said Doug Sly, Big Bend's interim public information officer.

"If you have fewer and fewer instructors and staff, you're going to have a hard time making your enrollment," he said.

Since 2008, the school has lost 13 percent of its personnel while generating 18 percent more full-time equivalent students, he said.

Tuition may play a role in enrollment as well, said Sly. Big Bend's service district, which includes Grant and Adams counties and part of Lincoln County, has the lowest per capita income in the state, he said.

The state Legislature meets in special session Nov. 28 to consider cuts to services across the state, including community colleges. While Big Bend doesn't know yet how they may be affected, they're anticipating more cuts, said Sly.

If the cuts continue, community colleges will have to rethink aspects of their mission, such as their open door admission policy, he said.

"When you can't open your classes to meet demand, then it really isn't open door, it's first come, first served," he said.