Kettering College’s enrollment has climbed to its highest ever level of 981 students, as people continue to pursue careers in fast-growing health care fields.

The 45-year college, a division of Kettering Medical Center, is now in its fifth consecutive year of record enrollment. The current class tops last year’s by nearly 4.6 percent, or by 43 more students. The student body is nearly double what is was in 2000, when 510 student attended.

“Health care is one area that is still hiring right now,” said college spokeswoman Mindy Claggett. “The word is out that we provide a quality education at a more reasonable price. We know that our enrollment is higher because our grads are happy.”

Health care-related careers top the list of the fastest growing occupations in America, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top three jobs — personal care aides, home health aides and biomedical engineers — are expected to grow by 71 percent, 69 percent and 62 percent, respectively, between 2010 and 2020.

According to Kettering College’s final enrollment report, the school has 563 full-time and 418 part-time students registered for fall classes. Their climbing enrollment contrasts a statewide trend among many schools whose enrollment fell. Ohio’s 17 public colleges and universities that switched to a semester calendar this year saw their combined enrollment dip 13,500 students.

“We’ve seen an increase in students entering the online bachelor’s degree completion in health sciences. Also, the new three-year pre-licensure nursing degree has been very successful in attracting students to enter the program, and more students are taking prerequisites to qualify to enter,” said Victor Brown, dean for enrollment management and student affairs. “One other contributor to our numbers is the final group of associate degree nursing students that are completing their course of study. Once these students graduate, we’ll no longer be offering this associate degree option.”