Economy, job training
fill area junior colleges
Longview News
Journal
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Economic and population booms in Texas are translating into booming enrollments for some local colleges.
Raw head counts at Kilgore College and Panola College show two-year enrollment increases of 18 percent or more. Northeast Texas Community College in Titus County is reporting a modest 1 percent rise in students.
"It will have a short-term, slightly negative impact," Kilgore College President Bill Holda said of the increased enrollment.
The 5,404 students during the first day of school Friday marked a 7 percent enrollment increase compared with 2007 and an 18.7 percent increase compared with the 4,554 students in 2006.
Kilgore must offer more classes and likely increase payroll because of more enrollment, Holda said. The good news is this fall's enrollment will factor into the school's next two years of state funding.
"That's why we're sucking it up a little bit and dealing with the numbers," he said. "The long-term gains far outweigh any constriction or constraints at the moment."
Nationally, two-year community college officials expect record enrollment this fall. Many officials, including those in Texas and Virginia, are concerned that rising costs and state government budget shortfalls could limit their ability to handle the anticipated influx of new students, who more and more are steering away from more expensive four-year universities during tough economic times.
Preliminary reports from community colleges across the nation, which had overall enrollment of 11.5 million last year, show summer enrollments increased, a trend predicted to extend into the fall, according to Norma Kent, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Community Colleges.
Kent said the trend is in line with other economic downturns. Community colleges see increased demand for their workforce training programs from people who have been laid off or need additional skills.
The pressure of increased numbers is obvious locally. At Panola, where Monday's raw head count was 18.5 percent higher than the same date one year ago, several vocational programs are filling up, and there's a more than 30-student waiting list for residential dorm space, according to Don Clinton, vice president of student services.
Panola officials are finding that students from close communities such as Gary, Elysian Fields and Tatum are wanting to live on campus, rather than pay for gas for commutes as short as 10 miles.
"That's always a positive impact on your school," Clinton said.
Classes in Panola's two-year-old petroleum technology program are filling, as are nursing, occupational and other health science degree plans. Gas prices left many local students originally bound for Austin or College Station to chose Carthage instead, Clinton said.
Holda has seen the same impact. And Melody Henry, interim dean of enrollment management at Northeast Texas Community College, said the same has happened on her campus. Northeast Texas' raw head count Monday was 2,435 — up from 2,403 students in 2007 and 2,419 students in 2006.
The Mount Pleasant area college will examine enrollment data and demographics in the coming weeks to help determine recruiting practices for the future, Henry said. Northeast Texas has experienced waiting list for residential dorms the past three semesters — a rarity for the school, she said.
"Most students," Holda said, "are making choices to stay local and get what they can. It's a fraction of the cost of doing private or university training, and they get what they can here cost-effectively."
The bulk of federal higher-education funding goes to four-year schools, yet two-year schools enroll almost half the nation's undergraduates, according to the American Association of Community Colleges. Salaries and infrastructure costs are higher at four-year schools, but community college officials say they've long been expected to do more with less.
At least 30 states have budget shortages, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the rising costs of energy and other operating expenses will likely make education funding tougher.
In Texas, state funding hasn't kept up with enrollment growth, Johnson said. Community colleges in Texas receive less than 30 percent of their funding from the state, down from 60 percent in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Because two-year schools are intended to be open-access institutions, it's taboo to turn students away.
But "if there's not enough faculty, not enough courses, we have a de facto enrollment cap," Kent said.
Recent booms in the petroleum industry have resulted in packed vocational classrooms at local colleges, officials say. Kilgore College's metal corrosion classes attracted about seven students a few years ago. Today, 114 KC students have picked corrosion as a major, Holda said.
Figuring out what the future holds in school enrollment won't be easy. Recent raw head counts don't give a true look at enrollment either, officials say, because of high school students enrolled in dual credit courses. It is unclear what effect dual credit students will have on state funding for colleges in 2009.
"None of us are magicians," Holda said. "Enrollment management is a really tricky business."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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