Enrollment on the Rise at Community Colleges

Community colleges have been a hot button issue in the education world since the announcement of Obama’s “American Graduation Initiative” two weeks ago, and they continue to dominate the spotlight this week. Across the country, tech school and community college enrollment is on the rise, reaching record highs in many areas as the economy forces citizens to rethink both education and their current careers.

In Kansas City, according to the Kansas City Star, enrollment rates have gone up by “double digits,” due to the combination of a flailing economy and a the biggest high school graduation rate to date. The result: enrollment lines that wrap around blocks. Its a good thing for sure, but it does leave administrators wondering how to accommodate the thousands of students clamoring for a chance at an associates degree, especially with state budget cuts leading to counterproductive hiring freezes on new professors. As Washington DC’s Community College Policy Center representative Katherine Boswell states, “it’s a perfect storm.”

The current problem, according to the article, is due to community colleges’ tendency to be overlooked when it comes to funding: “‘Higher education has been devastated by budget cuts, and community colleges are at the bottom of the food chain,’ said Linda Serra Hagedorn, director of Iowa’s Research Institute for Studies in Education. ‘We get less financial help and have to educate the most challenging populations.” In light of this, Hagedorn called Obama’s proposal “a staggering investment,” and suggested that it has made many community college officials extremely joyful.

It isn’t yet known for sure yet how long it will be until the proposal can start helping out colleges in need — but with students trying to enroll at increasing rates every year, it is looked forward to with the warmest welcome possible.

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