Data released this week by Columbia Gorge Community College shows an increase in the number of credit hours for which students are registering, reflecting a full tuition load of 15 or more credits per term, in spite of the college having to go completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  CGCC vice president of student services Gerardo Cifuentes sasy that metric actually increased by 108 credit hours from spring term 2019 to spring term 2020, even with the technical challenges posed by often-limited access to broadband.  The actual number of students paying full tuition is unchanged from a year earlier at this same point in spring term.  In keeping with other institutions, CGCC did see a decline in “full-time equivalent” enrollment or “FTE,” a formula used by Oregon to calculate state financial support for institutions, from 257 FTE in spring 2019 to 229 FTE in spring term 2020.  Cifuentes said the loss in FTE is driven primarily by fewer K-12 students enrolled in “College Now,” one of three “dual credit” programs that enable high school seniors to gain college credit prior to high school graduation.  With school districts closed over COVID-19 self-isolation measures, College Now enrollment dropped by a large amount.  The college has been expanding its distance learning presence for several years, which helped soften the abrupt loss of on-campus classes when Oregon Governor Kate Brown ordered campuses closed.