ESCANABA — Bay College’s student enrollment numbers for the winter 2019 semester have shown an increase from last winter, Vice President of Student Services Travis Blume said. Bay’s add-drop period for this semester ended on Friday, Jan. 25.

“We’re up about 3 percent compared to last year in number of students,” Blume said.

Currently, 1,822 students are enrolled at Bay for the winter 2019 semester. According to Blume, 1,764 students were enrolled at the college at this point last winter.

“We’re really attributing that to growth in programs,” he said. Involvement in Bay’s early-middle college and dual-enrollment programs has increased at the college’s Escanaba and Iron Mountain campuses.

The college’s athletics program has also boosted enrollment. Blume noted that this growth was due in part to Bay’s introduction of baseball and softball teams in the 2018-19 school year.