Seems not everyone’s succumbing to the recession. Business is booming at South Central College.
Bad economic times usually trigger a bump in college enrollment, but the kind of growth SCC has seen this spring is certainly unusual.
Credits are up nearly 14 percent over a year ago, while head count is up nearly 10 percent. The numbers mean student numbers are up dramatically and that more of them are taking heavier course loads.
“These numbers will continue to rise,” SCC President Keith Stover said, “because we’re selling credits throughout the semester.”
SCC offers traditional classes as well as some classes that students enroll for that work on a one-on-one basis between student and instructor. Some of the college’s agriculture classes work this way, and SCC is seeing a lot of growth in its work with farmers.
The biggest growth area, however, wasn’t farmers or, as some may suspect, workforce veterans returning for re-education.
The biggest growth area is in the college’s youngest students. Nearly 65 percent of the new students are in the 25-and-younger age group. And as for education type, the predominant growth is found in the liberal arts and sciences part of the college’s dual mission.
One of those students is Nya Dang, an 18-year-old single mom originally from Sudan.
When she was at West High School, Dang said, she’d been told that community colleges are a good alternative for students who want to start their college education to subject themselves to the experience of larger schools such as Minnesota State University.
Dang — who hopes to eventually transfer to MSU before heading back to Sudan to open her own or manage someone else’s business — has been very happy so far with the SCC experience.
“I can talk to any of my teachers whenever I want,” she said.
Lauren Bammert, a first-year student from Mapleton who plans to take general education classes at SCC and then transfer to MSU, said she hasn’t noticed much of a difference in the number of students on campus.
Stover said he expects the technical programs, many of which require students to start in the fall, will show equally strong growth when fall classes commence in late August.
To accommodate the additional students, Stover said the college will increase the number of sections for select courses. The college also plans to expand its summer session operations as well.
And while Stover says he doesn’t think the economy is the main driving force behind the surge, it is a factor.
“There has been a lot more publicity in this soft economy about getting a college education,” he said. “It also could be that there are fewer jobs available for our high school graduates.”
Stover said SCC has not seen a big chunk of people enroll who have been laid off or left a job after many years to pursue a new career. At least not yet.
This could all change, however, with the state’s budget picture. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system is looking at modest tuition hikes of about 4 to 5 percent.
If, as forecasters predict, the budget picture gets much worse, colleges and universities will want to raise tuition to avoid laying off faculty (who are set to ratify a new labor agreement that gives them no raises).
If they get their way, it’s possible higher costs will price some students out of the higher education market.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty, however, has been adamant about capping tuition.
If he gets his way, tuition will remain close to what it is today. But faculty may be laid off, and part-time instructors already have been cut. That would mean fewer sections of classes for the a growing number of students to fight over.
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