With record enrollment, even entry-level classes are filling up fast, forcing some ISU students to turn to the Des Moines Area Community College to complete their required credits.

Second-year freshman Matt Hole is among those students. Hole’s problems began last fall when he switched majors from engineering to business.

But the classes he needed were already full.

As a result, Hole was short the credits he needed to receive sophomore registration status for this semester, which caused additional registration trouble.

“I’m taking Speech 110 at DMACC this semester, because I couldn’t get into Speech 212 at Iowa State,” he said.

While ISU students are not generally encouraged to take classes at DMACC, Vice Provost of Undergraduate Programs Howard Shapiro said it happens under special circumstances.

“There are instances, but not because a course is not available,” Shapiro said. “When I hear of specific case, usually it is a special need and a DMACC class is the only way to do it.”

There is no reason a first-year student would have to take classes at DMACC, he said.

Hole, however, was short Speech 212 and Statistics 227, classes he needed to move from pre-business into his major and take the higher-level classes he needed.

“Since I’m still pre-business, I had a hard time finding enough classes I could take here to remain a full-time student,” Hole said. “I don’t have enough money to waste a year.”

To fulfill pre-business requirements, he is considering taking statistics at DMACC.

But the option of DMACC classes comes with a price. On top of ISU tuition, students must pay $78.40 per credit hour at DMACC, according to the college’s Web site, www.dmacc.cc.ia.us.

Deb Noll, undergraduate academic adviser for the College of Business, has a few students taking classes at DMACC every semester.

The most common use of DMACC classes is for statistics and economics, despite the availability of economics courses on campus.

“Most of the cases tend to be because of convenience or preferred timing,” she said.

The ISU Greenlee School of Journalism also is feeling the pressure of high course demand.

Barbara Mack, associate professor of journalism and mass communication, said she has students contacting her three or four times a day trying to add her classes and is concerned about students depending on DMACC for those credits.

“We need to make sure that we have enough sections of courses being taught that students who are paying full-time tuition can get a a full schedule of classes,” Mack said.

Hole agreed.

“I’m not mad with it,” he said, “but it doesn’t seem like the university’s doing a whole lot to hold more sections of classes.”

Part of the registration problem is caused by a big freshman class as well as better retention of current students, Shapiro said.

To aid the situation, Iowa State is offering more classes in a lecture format to accommodate a larger number of students than small sections.

Iowa State tries to provide the best teachers and technology to aid instruction in large lecture settings, Shapiro said.

“Some courses are in a incredibly large demand,” he said. “I pay attention to make necessary lectures as effective as possible.”

Each department is dealing with the university wide shortage of professors.

According to the ISU Web site, www.iastate.edu, students wanting to register for closed classes should add their name to the waiting list by phone and watch for openings as more sections are added.

Registrar Kathy Jones said underclassmen facing scheduling difficulties should look into taking classes in a different order than they had planned and have backup options available.

“The end concern is if students can get the classes they need,” she said, “not necessarily their first choice.”