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Community College Enrollment Jumps
Christopher Duray
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News
Community college enrollment has been growing, according to the latest student headcount from the Connecticut Department of Higher Education. It revealed that community colleges have seen an increased student body of 1,945 this year - a 4.2 percent increase from 2006.
College and university enrollment grew as well but not by as much. There are 1.5 percent more students this year than last. UConn enrollment increased by .7 percent.
This year is the third consecutive year for breaking enrollment records in community colleges, and the first time in 21 years that enrollment increased in all of Connecticut's 12 community colleges.
The growth of these schools can be attributed to multiple factors, least of which is the growing interest in higher education, said Mary Anne Cox, the assistant chancellor for the Connecticut Community College System.
"The demands of the economy of the thirty-first century require increased skills for entry-level jobs, global competition for the job market, and generally better opportunities and improved quality of life," she said.
Cox also attributes increasing community college populations to families looking for more affordable education.
A.J. Szymanoski is currently attending his second year at Norwalk Community College in Fairfield county. He says his decision to attend was one based on keeping his mind fresh.
"I just want to keep myself in an academic mode before I transfer out to a real college or a four year program," he said. "But the fact that it's about half as cheap as state school helped my decision for sure."
What is notable about the newest influx of students is that is has brought along with it a 50 percent increase in students who attend college directly after high school, a demographic referred to as "traditional-aged students." Usually, a larger percentage of community college attendees have taken time off to work before returning to a higher education.
This shifting demographic presents a challenge for some schools.
"They bring different demands than older students," said Cox. "They are more full time students, coming to class throughout the day and looking for more services from the colleges, like allowing for more time in the laboratories and library."
It also means the colleges have to spend more money on college preperation courses, for students who fall into what Cox calls the achievement gap.
"As students graduate from high school, the standards of graduation are not necessarily the same as the standards to enter college," she said. "Those students need some remedial work classes to enter. It's a demand for resources that the college has to face and keep up with."
Contact Christopher Duray at
Christopher.Duray@UConn.edu.
College and university enrollment grew as well but not by as much. There are 1.5 percent more students this year than last. UConn enrollment increased by .7 percent.
This year is the third consecutive year for breaking enrollment records in community colleges, and the first time in 21 years that enrollment increased in all of Connecticut's 12 community colleges.
The growth of these schools can be attributed to multiple factors, least of which is the growing interest in higher education, said Mary Anne Cox, the assistant chancellor for the Connecticut Community College System.
"The demands of the economy of the thirty-first century require increased skills for entry-level jobs, global competition for the job market, and generally better opportunities and improved quality of life," she said.
Cox also attributes increasing community college populations to families looking for more affordable education.
A.J. Szymanoski is currently attending his second year at Norwalk Community College in Fairfield county. He says his decision to attend was one based on keeping his mind fresh.
"I just want to keep myself in an academic mode before I transfer out to a real college or a four year program," he said. "But the fact that it's about half as cheap as state school helped my decision for sure."
What is notable about the newest influx of students is that is has brought along with it a 50 percent increase in students who attend college directly after high school, a demographic referred to as "traditional-aged students." Usually, a larger percentage of community college attendees have taken time off to work before returning to a higher education.
This shifting demographic presents a challenge for some schools.
"They bring different demands than older students," said Cox. "They are more full time students, coming to class throughout the day and looking for more services from the colleges, like allowing for more time in the laboratories and library."
It also means the colleges have to spend more money on college preperation courses, for students who fall into what Cox calls the achievement gap.
"As students graduate from high school, the standards of graduation are not necessarily the same as the standards to enter college," she said. "Those students need some remedial work classes to enter. It's a demand for resources that the college has to face and keep up with."
Contact Christopher Duray at
Christopher.Duray@UConn.edu.
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