LESS MONEY AND FEWER JOBS EQUAL MORE STUDENTS FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Mike McCagg ccSCOOP News Some are enrolling to learn new skills after being laid off. Others are looking for a good education at a comparatively “bargain” price. Either way, students are filling the halls of two area community colleges at record or near-record levels this year. In what many consider the latest sign of the bad economy, enrollment at two-year colleges across the country is on the rise. A national group representing community colleges recently reported that the average enrollment increase from spring semester 2008 to spring semester 2009 ranges from 4 to 19 percent.

Locally, the increase isn’t staggering, enrollment is still high. At Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, Director of Communications and Marketing Paula Monaco reported that spring 2009 enrollment is up 4.6 percent from last spring, for a record spring semester enrollment of 9,990 full- and part-time students.

At Columbia-Greene Community College in Greenport, Public Relations Director Allen Kovler reported a 2.6 percent increase in full- and part-time student enrollment, up to 1,710 students this semester. That is nearly a record enrollment for the spring, he said.

For the fall semester, Hudson Valley reported a 3.7 percent increase in student enrollment over last fall, with record 12,787 students walking the college’s halls. At Columbia-Greene, the enrollment increased 1 percent, up to a record 1,839, in the fall. Fall enrollment figures are traditionally greater than the enrollment in the spring as a result of early graduations, student transfers, and general attrition.

“The increase is across the board,” said Monaco. “We are seeing a lot of folks who are laid off and are looking for retraining, and . . . we are seeing those students directly out of high school who are looking to get those first two years of college in at a reduced cost.”

Kovler added the increase in enrollment is reflective of the economy. “People who are looking to go to college are deciding that they need to look at options that are less expensive, but which they can build on,” he said.

In support of this statement, Kovler said the number of traditional high school graduates entering Columbia-Greene as full-time students last fall increased 18 percent, up to 263 students. That figure also represents a 36.8 percent increase in that type of student from just seven years ago, he said.

Full-time student tuition at Columbia-Greene is $1,608; at Hudson Valley full-time tuition is $1,450. The average SUNY tuition for a full-time student is $4,660 and due to increase.

“There is no question that people are looking to maximize their dollar,” said Kovler, “and community colleges offer an excellent education at a bargain price.”