Community college enrollments across the country are rapidly increasing.
The Virginia Community College System has seen enrollment increase 5,800 in terms of full-time equivalents. A full-time equivalent is one or more students whose combined enrollment equals 15 credit hours in a semester or 30 credit hours in an academic year. Public institutions of higher education receive state funding based on the number of full-time-equivalent students enrolled.
The VCCS also reported an increase in the overall enrollment of its system.
“Last year we did see an increase,” said Janet Kelly, spokesperson for Madison Area Technical College. “When looking at community colleges, most of our students actually attend part-time, and, as a result, we have been anywhere between 45,000 in terms of headcounts and 50,000 for the past couple of years. Last year, we had about 52,000 in headcounts. I believe we were up significantly in full-time equivalents.”
Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Neb., has also seen enrollment rise. Spring enrollment numbers at MCC indicated an increase of 2.1 percent.
A tuition freeze at two-year colleges in Indiana resulted in 4,000 new students, or an enrollment jump of over 15 percent. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, foreign-language studies enrollment has increased by 104 percent.
The Borough of Manhattan Community College, the nearest of any educational institution to the World Trade Center, is also experiencing record enrollment. The college will enroll 18,000 students this fall, an increase of 1,000 over last year. Officials at the college attribute the rise to an aggressive ad campaign and an economic slowdown.
“We also find that when there are higher levels of unemployment and jobs are more difficult to get, people often elect to come back to college and get further education,” Kelley said.
While the majority of community colleges are experiencing skyrocketing enrollments, not all are seeing their numbers increase. Eastern Idaho Technical College is one such college whose enrollment has declined in the past few years.
Experts believe students are flocking to community colleges because they serve as gateways to four-year institutions at half the price. Many also find community colleges offer a complete education. Online courses are also a growing decision for many to choose community colleges over national institutions.
The credit-hour increase can be deceiving. Experts say the increase in enrollment hours may not be attributed to an increase in student enrollment, but an increase in the load each individual student takes.
According to information for the U.S. Department of Education, community college enrollments rose steadily for 20 years from the 1970s to the mid-1990s. Total enrollments during that time increased from 3.7 million nationally in 1976 to 5 million in 1990.
Community-college officials expect more enrollments in the near future as the sluggish economy wears on.
