Degree demand on the rise

Enrollment in a cheaper, faster, and more available form of higher education is on the rise across North Carolina.

Rising unemployment rates and early education programs have prompted the rising community college enrollment rates, state community college officials said.

“Enrollment is up as high as 10 percent in some community colleges,” said Audrey Bailey, the spokeswoman for  N.C. Community College System.

Enrollment for the fall 2008 semester is up all across the state from just last year, she said.

Individual schools’ data shows that the number of students has steadily increased the past few years and has served as a stepping stone for those students with higher educational aspirations.

“Enrollment has increased by 42 to 45 percent over the past few years, and the transfer program is one of the largest growing programs,” said Sharon Covitz, vice president for institutional advancement at Forsyth Technical Community College.

Not only is tuition less at community colleges, her school is working to simplify the transition to four-year institutions, which helps attract students, Covitz said.

“Education at Forsyth Tech is significantly cheaper — only around $1,500 a year — and we have articulation agreements with most colleges to make the transfer process as smooth as possible,” she said.

Bill Ingram, president of Durham Technical Community College, also said the price has encouraged students to consider community colleges.

“Students see it as an attractive, high-quality, low-cost alternative to the first two years of a four-year university,” Ingram said.

Increasing unemployment has a direct relationship to the rising enrollment, Bailey said, and community colleges are creating programs to respond to that development.

Covitz said Forsyth Tech sends teams out to counsel workers who have lost their jobs and outline the educational opportunities available to them.

“When we hear of a company laying off employees, a team goes on-site to talk to people being laid off and let them know what their options are,” Covitz said.

Bailey also credited enrollment growth to the increasing number of early-college programs like the N.C. Learn and Earn program, which allows students to take community college classes while still in high school.

Students in the program can graduate with an associate’s degree and a high school diploma in five years.

Covitz said one of Forsyth Tech’s early-learning programs is, “for juniors and seniors that are fed up with high school drama and want to focus on their studies.”

Taylor Holland, a counselor for transfer students at N.C. State University, attributed the rise in community college enrollment to an overall increase in the desire for higher education.

N.C. State has seen that reflected in its own admissions process with the number of transfer students growing alongside the general enrollment.

“More people are utilizing all university and technical two-year system schools, and more people are going to college,” Holland said.



Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.