Community colleges love enrollment (and money, too)
Community colleges were bursting at their seams last semester. So much so that Wayne County Community College had to close enrollment. If you poll the other community colleges in the area you'll also see bloated enrollments. Don't get them wrong, while the student numbers are skyrocketing, the funding isn't so much. And that's pretty damn important.Excerpt:No longer the afterthought of higher education, the nation's 1,200 community, technical, and junior colleges enroll more than 6 million students — almost half the nation's college population. Public colleges' open-door policies and low fees draw many low-income, first-generation, immigrant, and Hispanic students. The economic downturn has pressured both schools and their students, most of whom work long hours. Sinking tax revenues at state and local levels have forced public colleges to cut courses or schedule them around the clock, slash summer sessions, eliminate academic programs and even restrict enrollment. In Detroit, record demand prompted the Wayne County Community College District to cap student enrollment this spring for the first time in its 40-year history. Louisiana's community and technical colleges, facing a 4.5% state budget cut, have slashed 100 academic programs in the past year.Read the entire article here.
