"Things are going very well," said KPC Director Gary Turner.

According to him, the state of the college and statistics on this year's enrollment are very good.

"Our student head count is high, up 6.4 percent for the total number of students," he said, which translates to 1,812 students enrolled for the spring semester alone, of which 1,548 are credit-seeking students and 264 are pursuing adult basic education.

According to Turner, the average age of the student body has also been changing dramatically over the past few years, with more young students attending, more closely mirroring larger state universities.

"The 18-to-24-year old age group has increased 60 percent over the last five years, with 53 percent of the student body now under the age of 29, while 10 years ago it was only 26 percent. All indications are that more parents are telling their kids to go to KPC „ rather than outside „ for the first two years at least," he said.

Some of these younger students are drawn in by the Jumpstart program, in which high school seniors can take up to 18 credits at the college.

"Currently 271 students are in the program, which is a 17 percent increase," Turner said.

KPC has also increased the number of distance-delivered courses offered, which is also drawing more students.

"We're doing an unbelievable job with our distance courses. From spring 2007 to spring 2008 we had a 126 percent increase in the number of students taking distance courses. It's been amazing," he said.

Turner said the distance-delivered courses are not replacing face-to-face courses at the school. Rather, they are just another option for students, and one younger and older students alike have benefited from.

"For young students, this is how they're learning, it's all about technology. This also gives parents and people working full-time an opportunity to take classes.

"They can take an online course at 2 a.m. in their pajamas after the work day is done and the kids are in bed," he said.

Turner said the distance-delivered courses also benefit people that historically have believed the college was too far to travel for a regular commute.

"Our service region is the entire peninsula, but the college has been too far for people from Cooper Landing, Hope and Moose Pass to drive. The distance courses make it more possible for them to take classes," he said.

With the trying economic times, Turner said people closer to the central peninsula „ such as from Nikiski, Kasilof and Sterling „ are also taking distance-delivered courses to cut down on driving costs.

"With prices at the pump nearing $4 a gallon, people can save gas and still get a degree," he said.

As might be expected with more overall students, more of them are graduating as well, according to Turner.

"We're predicting 112 graduates (May 7), which is the largest graduating class we've ever had, and of these, 77 will be awarded in what the Alaska Department of Labor defines as high demand jobs, such as processing technology, welding, accounting and elementary education," he said.

As the student body grows, so, too, must the facility, and Turner said several construction projects and building upgrades are planned for the coming months.

"We'll have more than 3.5 million worth of capital construction taking place this summer," he said.

Some of these projects include $1.3 million for construction of a second-floor study area and walkway to connect the McLane and Goodrich building, $600,000 for full renovations of the biology and chemistry labs and $1.4 million to connect into the city of Soldotna waterline rather than the college relying solely on their two wells as has been the case historically.

For more information on Kenai Peninsula College, or to view a full list of the summer or fall classes that will be offered later this year, visit the college's Web site at www.kpc.alaska.edu or call the school at 262-0300.