LUMBERTON — The first day of college brought excitement and energy to the campus of Robeson Community College on Monday.

Students could be seen hitting the books in class, walking down the hallways and along the sidewalks, and congregating in the student center.

It was a welcome sight for faculty and staff.

“There’s just something about having students on campus,” said Melissa Singler, the president of RCC. “Bouncing back from COVID, it is so wonderful to see students returning to class, bringing our campus back to life.”

With the new semester comes a lot more foot traffic on campus compared to last. Fall 2022 curriculum enrollment trends are showing an increase of 13% compared to this time last year, according to a release from RCC.

“This is pre-census trend data,” said Patrena Benton Elliott, vice president of Instruction and Student Support Services. “What this preliminary data shows is that we are seeing more students attending RCC as COVID rates have dropped, but our final numbers will not be available until the end of the semester.”

According to Elliott, Robeson Community College has seen a 10% growth since the 2018-2019 school year.

“Even with the pandemic, we continue to trend on the positive side,” Elliott said.

Walk into any building and classes in cosmetology, nursing, respiratory therapy and radiography could be seen at capacity.

The Early Childhood Education program and the University Transfer program had to add sections to fill the growing needs of students.

The culinary arts program is almost full, as is Emergency Medical Science and Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration — programs that two years ago were struggling to make, due to low enrollment.

But Singler says there’s still an opportunity to enroll and she encourages students to stop by and see what classes may still be available for them.

“We still have room for more students,” Singler said. “We will be launching several online classes on Aug. 29 for anyone that wasn’t able to register in time for the classes that began on Aug. 15, and there are still many 12, 10, and eight-week classes available.”

Some of the late start classes include basic law enforcement, criminal justice courses, college transfer offerings, accounting and business-related courses, early childhood education electives, and an EMS bridging course for EMT’s looking to earn an associate’s degree.

“It’s never too late to enroll,” Singler said.

In addition to late start classes, the college will also be enrolling career and college promise students in the coming weeks, which will be sure to add an additional boost to an already growing enrollment trend.

“I am excited that we are back on campus for in-person teaching and learning,” Singler said. “I continue to be impressed by the potential each new academic year presents and I look forward to meeting all of our students, and watching them succeed in the classroom, as the semester goes by… It’s an exciting time to be at Robeson Community College…. To all of our students, welcome home.”