Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Rising enrollment strains community colleges

  • by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
  • October 5, 2010
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

The state’s community colleges are once again experiencing record enrollment growth, an expansion that college officials say could force them to end their policy of accepting all applicants.

“We can’t continue at this pace,” said Anita T. Gliniecki, president of Housatonic Community College, adding the almost 50 percent enrollment increase in the last five years has her campus at capacity. “We cannot continue to grow without additional staff and additional funds.”

community college enrollment 10-5-10

This is the twelfth consecutive year the state’s dozen community colleges experienced a surge in enrollment, from about 39,000 during the 1998 fall semester to a preliminary count of more than 58,000 this semester, the Connecticut State Department of Higher Education reported Monday.

“We have lived with this philosophy of open enrollment at these colleges for decades. We can’t afford to fund this open enrollment model indefinitely,” said State Higher Education Commissioner Michael P. Meotti. “Enrollment is outstripping capacity. People can’t get into classes and programs.”

Vanessa Morest, dean of institutional effectiveness at Norwalk Community College, said 90 percent of the classes at NCC had more students trying to enroll than spaces available at the start of this semester. A few years ago, she estimates students were shut out of just over half the classes.

“We’re an open admission college. But that doesn’t mean people will be able to get into their classes. That’s a major problem,” said Kim Ebert, director of enrollment at NCC.

Community college leaders say this enrollment increase comes at the worst possible time, since it is unlikely state lawmakers, facing huge budget deficits, will find more money for community colleges.

“Increased costs are inevitable when you have this big of an increase in the number of students. We are looking at a very, very grim picture,” said Mary Anne Cox, assistant chancellor of Connecticut Community Colleges

Community colleges have been level-funded at about $158 million since the 2008-09 school year. In that time, enrollment increased 14 percent.

But Rep. Roberta B. Willis, co-chairwoman of the legislature’s Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee and graduate of Northwestern Community College, said she is not ready to consider requiring that the state’s community colleges start turning people away.

“I will not consider that until it’s the last resort,” she said. “You would be closing the door on a lot of people that are asking for an education. … I don’t want to leave people behind.”

With or without legislative action, Cox said the record enrollment growth already has community colleges headed down this path.

“We’ll soon have to turn students away, there is no question about it,” Cox said. “This comes at the worst possible time. There may be no where else for these students to go.”

Community colleges have long served as an inexpensive alternative for those to whom other higher education choices are a financial or academic stretch.

Katherine Monsalve, a 21-year-old single mother from Fairfield, said she couldn’t afford to go anywhere but Housantonic Community College.

“When I heard Sacred Heart was in the $30,000 a year price range, that’s when I looked at this school. That’s a lot of money,” she said. “This school is a lot cheaper. That helps.”

Meotti calls community colleges a “bargain” for students, as tuition and fees are just $3,400 for a full-time in-state student this semester. Tuition and fees at the University of Connecticut this fall is $10,416.

“People see going to these colleges as a smart investment,” he said, noting that more students go to the state’s community colleges than Connecticut State University System or UConn. “The limited amount of space [at community colleges] is something we must talk about.”

He said it makes no sense to accept someone into a class that there is no chance they are going to pass, while shutting out another student that has a good chance of passing the class.

“It’s not really doing you any favors to let you in a class that you are doomed to fail,” he said.

Willis does not see the 80 percent of students needing remedial classes as a problem for the community colleges, rather an opportunity to get them academically where they should be.

“Yes, that’s a huge, huge burden on community colleges. But where else are they going to learn?” she asked. “In order to turn this economy around, they have to be able to work. … This would be closing the door on a lot of people before they even have a shot.”

But Meotti is focusing on the likelihood being that state funding will decrease, so community colleges will soon only be able to afford a limited number of students. “You have to be a realist. … We are going to accept the budgetary reality that the odds are funding is going to decrease.”

And with that decrease, he believes the decade-old policy of accepting everyone that applies to community colleges needs to be reconsidered.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Health issues carried weight on the campaign trail.
by Victoria Knight | Kaiser Health News

Even with the Democrats’ newfound Senate majority, differences in health policy between the party’s moderate and progressive wings will persist.

Trump’s pardons included health care execs behind massive fraud
by Fred Schulte | Kaiser Health News

At the last minute, President Donald Trump granted pardons to several individuals convicted in huge Medicare swindles that prosecutors alleged often harmed or endangered elderly and infirm patients while fleecing taxpayers. “These aren’t just technical financial crimes. These were major, major crimes,” said Louis Saccoccio, chief executive officer of the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, […]

‘It’s a nightmare:’ A growing number of seniors are unable to book vaccine appointments as problems mount
by Dave Altimari and Jenna Carlesso

The state acknowledged Friday in an email to local health workers that some residents are waiting days for a callback.

Panel recommends small, inflationary pay hike for state officials
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Connecticut's part-time legislature hasn't received a pay hike since 2001. The annual base-pay for senators and representatives is $28,000.

Police task force seeks wider applicant pool for watchdog role
by Kelan Lyons

The task force sent four recommendations — and two that didn't get unanimous approval— to lawmakers for the 2021 session.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Miguel Cardona, who are you?
by Ann Policelli Cronin

When I ask Connecticut teachers about Miguel Cardona, those who know him or have worked with him say that he is really nice guy who knows what the challenges in our classrooms are, knows how to help teachers to improve their teaching, and respects public schools. All good. But what is his vision for teaching and learning that he will bring to the U.S. Department of Education?

Opinion Connecticut needs a strong two-party system, this Democrat says
by Edward Marcus

J.R. Romano’s recent resignation as the state’s Republican Party chair has brought into focus the need for a viable opposition party in Connecticut. It is not healthy politics when everything is totally controlled by one party:  the legislature, the governorship, and most of the major municipalities in our state.

Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO