Monday, Sep. 21, 2009

Colleges reap bounty from bad economy as many return to school

The economy may be hurting families, but it has provided a bounty for community colleges.

Southwestern Illinois College and Lewis & Clark Community College both expect to see increases in their enrollment numbers when the final tallies are in for fall 2009. Unlike four-year universities, they tend to track not only student numbers but the number of credit hours students take, as many more students are part-time.

As of their 10-day enrollment, there are 14,121 students enrolled in 121,976 credit hours at SWIC. That's a 3.8 percent increase in students and a 6.3 percent increase in credit hours over last fall -- a rise of more than 7,000 credit hours.

And there still may be more increases, according to spokesman Jim Haverstick. There are 130 mid-semester courses beginning later this fall. Early projections are as high as 26,000 students, he said.

At Lindenwood University's Belleville campus, the new day program has launched with 82 new undergraduate students. The total enrollment is still being calculated, according to chief administrative officer Jerry Bladdick. But he said they, too, are anticipating record numbers.

"For years it's been stated that higher education is recession-proof," Bladdick said. "Many are back in school for retraining or retooling their resumes. ... We try to met the needs of the community in which we serve."

Lindenwood's programs are attractive not only to undergraduate and nontraditional students, but to graduate students, with estimated 12-percent increase in education and 23 percent in counseling, Bladdick said.

"For us at Lindenwood Belleville, it's being in the right place at the right time," he said.

Lewis & Clark does not have final numbers yet for this fall. But so far they're projecting their 14th straight fall semester of increasing enrollment, according to spokeswoman Lori Artis. As of last week the increase was projected at 9 percent, she said.

Lewis & Clark has broken its previous records every year for many years, Artis said. Last year, enrollment at the college rose 2 percent to 8,016 students. They were enrolled in 63,072 credit hours, a 5 percent increase from the previous year.

It's the cost and being responsive to the needs of the community that keep them coming back, she said.

"All over the state, community colleges will be up," she said. "When the economy is bad, we tend to see an increase in people going back to school -- retraining."

Even for those with bachelor's degrees, a community college is frequently a way to start over, Artis said. "A new degree makes you more attractive to employers," she said.