Hudson Valley colleges thrive in downturn

Rodney Dangerfield might have gone “Back to School” to get a coveted inheritance, but in real life, most of those who knock on college doors ”“ whether it is their community college or a top rate private school ”“ the Hudson Valley is experiencing a surge in applications, in part due to the Crash of 2008.

The  region”™s student population is an interesting mix: high school graduates already determined to be college bound, transfer students from other states, adults who want to improve their career opportunities ”“ and adults who want to create a better resume while they search for a new job. Others are students who had chosen career over college and found jobs sorely lacking, both for the newbies and the experienced workers. Whatever the reason, ”˜tis the season for climbing enrollment.

The growth has helped the economy because most, if not all, of the Hudson Valley region”™s schools are upgrading. From millions of dollars in infrastructure improvements at Vassar in Poughkeepsie and SUNY Orange in Middletown, to the new SUNY Orange campus readying to open to students later this month, there”™s been no shortchanging the construction industry when it comes to providing jobs.

Dutchess Community College will add to those job opportunities when it starts to build its 450 units of student housing in Poughkeepsie as will The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, waiting for the public comment period to end to see if it will get the green light to build  a Hyatt hotel on the north end of its campus.

In state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli”™s report on the economic impact of higher education in the state, prepared in September, he reported state higher education institutions employed more than 266,000 people in 2009. The state had the largest private higher education sector in the nation, with 167,450 jobs, more than 40 percent more than second-ranked California.

College and student spending directly and indirectly provided 495,000 jobs and generated $62.2 billion of economic activity. In surveys prepared by the Association of University Technology Managers, New York consistently ranked among the top three states nationwide in leveraging technology to create economic growth.