IR Series: Class Section and Subsection Size

Vol. 05-06, No. 8 September 26, 2005

Undergraduate Class Section Size

Fall 2002 - Fall 2005

This report contains information about the number of students in class sections and subsections for undergraduate courses at Tennessee Technological University in Fall 2002, Fall 2003, Fall 2004, and Fall 2005. From Fall 2002 to Fall 2005, the percentage of undergraduate class sections with fewer than 20 students increased from 45% to 54%.

In Fall 2005, one fourth of all undergraduate class sections have fewer than 10 students, and another fourth have from 10 to 19 students. Sections with 50 or more students comprise 6% of all undergraduate class sections.

In Fall 2005, 22% of all undergraduate class subsections have fewer than 10 students, and another 38% have from 10 to 19 students.*

Class Sections
		Number					Percentage
	N of					N of
	Students	2002	2003	2004	2005	Students	2002	2003	2004	2005
	2-9	337	327	335	372	2-9	23.6%	23.9%	23.8%	26.5%
	10-19	307	295	344	386	10-19	21.5%	21.5%	24.5%	27.5%
	20-29	366	358	352	382	20-29	25.6%	26.1%	25.1%	27.2%
	30-39	196	159	146	161	30-39	13.7%	11.6%	10.4%	11.5%
	40-49	114	127	129	106	40-49	8.0%	9.3%	9.2%	7.5%
	50-99	92	81	77	62	50-99	6.4%	5.9%	5.5%	4.4%
	100+	18	24	22	28	100+	1.3%	1.8%	1.6%	2.0%
	All	1430	1371	1405	1497
	< 20	644	622	679	758	< 20	45.0%	45.4%	48.3%	54.0%
	> = 50	110	105	99	90	> = 50	7.7%	7.7%	7.0%	6.4%



Class Subsections*
		Number					Percentage
	N of					N of
	Students	2002	2003	2004	2005	Students	2002	2003	2004	2005
	2-9	70	62	75	73	2-9	21.7%	20.0%	22.5%	21.9%
	10-19	96	77	99	128	10-19	29.7%	24.8%	29.6%	38.3%
	20-29	82	91	103	87	20-29	25.4%	29.4%	30.8%	26.0%
	30-39	55	59	35	41	30-39	17.0%	19.0%	10.5%	12.3%
	40-49	2	7	9	7	40-49	0.6%	2.3%	2.7%	2.1%
	50-99	15	11	11	10	50-99	4.6%	3.5%	3.3%	3.0%
	100+	3	3	2	2	100+	0.9%	1.0%	0.6%	0.6%
	All	323	310	334	348

* A class subsection is any subsection of a course, such as a laboratory, recitation, or discussion subsection. A subsection is supplementary in nature and is scheduled to meet separately from the course lectures. Individual instruction such as thesis research, music instruction, independent study, or one-to-one readings are excluded from this compilation. Undergraduate subsections are defined as any subsections of courses in which degree-seeking undergraduate students enroll for credit. Noncredit classes are excluded.