Pre- and Post-Earthquake Enrollment by Geographic Area.

On January 17, 1994, the Northridge earthquake caused major damage to the freeways leading into California's Santa Clarita Valley. For most of the spring semester, travel to and from the valley was difficult and time-consuming. To determine the effect of the earthquake on enrollment, College of the Canyons, in the Santa Clarita Valley, undertook a study to compare frequencies of the zip codes of students' home residence for those enrolled in spring 1993, the year before the earthquake, to those in spring 1994. End-of-term data was examined for both semesters, counting only students who continued their enrollment through the first census. An 11% drop in enrollment was found from spring 1993 to spring 1994, falling from 6,577 to 5,853. For students residing within the college's district, there was an overall decline of 12.5%, ranging from a high of 15.4% for the city of Valencia to a low of 9.9% for Saugus. For students residing outside of the district, enrollment decreased overall by 84 students from spring 1993 to spring 1994, representing a 5.8% decrease. When examining out-of-district enrollment by area, the greatest number decreases were found for the east and west sections of the San Fernando Valley and for students from out of the local area. Student enrollment from northeast of the college, however, actually increased by 47 students or 28%. Data tables are included. (KP)