Enrollment in Connecticut public universities and colleges hit record levels a ninth consecutive year, with more than 127,000 students enrolling for the fall semester, according to the state Department of Higher Education.
Nearly 80 percent of the gain over last fall was the result of a slowing but still significant surge in students attending the state”™s dozen community colleges. Enrollment there jumped 5.7 percent, compared to an 8.2 percent increase a year ago.
By comparison, enrollment increased just 1.8 percent at the University of Connecticut and 0.3 percent at the campuses of the Connecticut State University system.
The increases occurred even as the Connecticut General Assembly approved tuition hikes across the board, including another 6.4 percent for in-state residents at community colleges to $3,400, below the 7.2 percent increase the previous year.
The department was scheduled to release total enrollment at all colleges and universities later in October.
In Bridgeport, Housatonic Community College matriculated nearly 600 more students than a year ago, a 10.5 percent gain that statewide trailed only Three Rivers Community College”™s 13.5 percent increase.
Norwalk Community College was the only community college in the state to register an increase of under 1 percent, even as it constructs a new building for nursing studies and other programs that could help it accommodate more students in the future.
“In a tough economy, public higher education is growing its enrollment as students recognize the benefits that a college education can bring to their career and personal success,” said Michael Meotti, Connecticut”™s commissioner of higher education, in a prepared statement. “This is particularly true at our community colleges where both younger and older students are opting to begin or re-start their college careers and use these colleges as their springboards to a four-year degree.”
Community colleges are seeing more traditionally aged students coming through their doors because of the increased high school graduations caused by the children of baby boomers. This increase is putting more pressure on colleges to expand space or turn away students, according to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
Since 2008, however, Connecticut”™s graduating classes have been trending downward according to projections by the U.S. Census Bureau. Community college”™s ballooning enrollment has been the result in part of schools”™ ability to draw a higher percentage of graduating seniors, due to:
Ӣ lower tuition
Ӣ guaranteed admission for graduates at four-year colleges; and
Ӣ career-advancement programs for workers returning to school.
AACC data shows that in Connecticut, community colleges are largely home to part-time students ”“ more so than anywhere in the Northeast, and in striking comparison to some of the state”™s neighbors. Whereas six in 10 community college students in New York and Rhode Island enroll fulltime, just 36 percent of students in Connecticut do so.
As part of a White House summit
on community colleges held in early October, President Obama articulated a goal of the country increasing the number of community college graduates by 5 million by the year 2020 ”“ up from 8 million currently.
While federal support for community colleges is coming via some $500 million in the form of competitive awards by the U.S. Department of Labor, states will also need to increase funding for their schools.
