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A struggling economy and changing workforce needs usually mean more people enrolling in college.
But the spike in enrollment during hard economic times also points to the value of our local technical college and four-year university. An affordable education is not always easy to come by. These local institutions make that much easier for many people.
It's also easy to see why communities fight closing local campuses when the state looks for ways to cut spending.
At TCL, about 1,140 students are enrolled in summer classes, a projected 7 percent increase. The summer enrollment increase follows a record spring semester enrollment of 2,123 students. During the 2008-09 academic year, enrollment at TCL increased by about 13 percent compared with the previous year.
The University of South Carolina Beaufort is projecting a 15 percent to 18 percent increase in students this fall, said spokeswoman Deborah Reynolds. The university expects to serve more than 1,700 students, up from about 1,500 last year.
News of the increased enrollments came in the same week that President Barack Obama announced a plan to provide
$12 billion to community colleges. Educators see it as a measure of the value these open enrollment schools provide an economy that needs a workforce that can retool quickly and efficiently.
The $12 billion cost over 10 years would be paid for by ending subsidies to banks and private lenders of student loans.
The plan includes competitive grants offered to schools to try new programs or expand training and counseling, address high dropout rates, renovate and rebuild college facilities, and develop online courses to help colleges offer more classes, the Greenville News reports.
The administration has set a goal of five million more community college graduates by 2020.
Small colleges are caught in a squeeze. Enrollments are higher, but state funding is down. The federal money could make it easier to meet that increased demand without having to lean too heavily on students to make up the difference.
TCL and USCB have had to absorb cuts in state funding and will raise tuition by about 3.6 percent this fall. TCL students will pay $1,691 in tuition and fees per semester.USCB students will pay $3,625.
If community colleges and smaller universities hold the keys to the workforce we need to compete in the years ahead, they will need resources to make it happen. The investment will be well worth it.
