Students packed community colleges during the recession, as enrollment hit a historic high. Many campuses saw annual growth of more than 10 percent, which they strained to accommodate. Never mind parking spaces, some places were running out of classrooms.
Then the economy began to recover, and many would-be students went to work. By 2011, the enrollment surge started to subside, but rather than relief, that brought concern. Even though more students put pressure on facilities and resources, they came with tuition dollars—a growing share of total revenue as state monies dwindled. Now community colleges face a new stress: Keep the tuition coming in by managing enrollment like never before.
For decades, the community-college sector expanded almost automatically as it helped broaden access to higher education, says Peter S. Bryant, a senior vice president at the consulting firm Noel-Levitz. But waiting for students to show up is no longer enough, says Mr. Bryant, who has seen more business lately from community colleges. “There’s a growing realization,” he says, “that there has got to be a much more strategic approach.”
That means acting more like other sectors of higher education, going after students, and less like public school districts, serving those who live nearby.
Yet recruitment anywhere is a challenge these days. While enrollment in community colleges is still up significantly over pre-recession levels, total head count in the spring of 2013 dropped by 3.6 percent over the previous year, the third straight annual decline, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, whose fall tallies will be out next month.
At Manchester Community College, outside Hartford, Conn., annual increases in full-time-equivalent enrollment were as high as 9.9 percent in the fall of 2009. In July, the college was down 8 percent for this fall.
“I went into panic mode,” says the president, Gena Glickman. “Our budget is so dependent on tuition revenue.” How dependent? Almost 60 percent of total revenue comes from tuition and fees.
Officials there kicked into high gear. Manchester’s enrollment-management committee, a year old, met twice a week this summer to examine new metrics. Applications were steady, the group discovered, but many hadn’t converted to registrations. So the college made a list of more than 2,000 applicants and hired a few students to start calling them. Manchester also became more active on social media, promoting programs like Super Saturdays, when students could complete all steps to enroll in one go. To spare some from choosing courses, the college started providing pre-set schedules; it directed financial-aid inquiries to a call center.
With the fall semester under way, enrollment is down only 0.8 percent.
Of course community colleges have always been deliberate, aligning their programs, for instance, with the needs of local industry. Now campuses are examining that demand even more closely. Analytics is the guide: Presidents say they must know their market and identify areas for growth, tapping new types of students, say for corporate training or dual-enrollment programs. Marketing, previously an afterthought, is vital.
Harrisburg Area Community College, which hired a marketing firm this fall, plans to roll out a new campaign in March. And the college is already planning a “Takin’ It to the Streets” series to meet prospective students throughout Central Pennsylvania and enroll them on the spot.
The sector has seen enrollment declines before, coinciding with the economic recoveries of the mid-1980s and 90s, but weathering this one might be tougher. Competition is high, as students can also choose online programs, for-profit institutions, or even—because of the booming oil and gas industry, say, or doubt over the value of a degree—not to go to college at all.
‘Real-Time Maneuvering’
When the economy was at its worst, Northwest Arkansas Community College was thriving. In 2008 and 2009, full-time-equivalent enrollment increased by 14.0 and 15.1 percent. Last year brought a dip, of 2.2 percent, and this year officials budgeted for flat enrollment. Then they watched, hopefully, as students came in.
“Early in the summer you always think, Well, maybe they’re just a little slower to enroll this year,” says Evelyn E. Jorgenson, the president there. But that was not the case. Northwest Arkansas is down 5.2 percent this fall, with a shortfall of $300,000.
Fortunately, the college had already stepped up its corporate-training operation, calling and visiting local businesses to discuss how it could serve their employees. In July and August of 2012, the college picked up 23 training contracts; this year in that time it got 70, including with Wal-Mart and Tyson. That translates to more corporate-training revenue in the first quarter of this fiscal year (about $330,000) than in all of the previous one.
Controlling costs has also been crucial. So far Northwest Arkansas has managed to avoid layoffs, though it did eliminate some positions through attrition. And over the summer, it went to a four-day work week to save money on utilities.
Normandale Community College, in Bloomington, Minn., had budgeted for declines. They were just bigger than anticipated (4.3 percent in 2012 and 0.2 percent this year), says the president, Joseph P. Opatz.
Now the college is strengthening connections with local high schools—not only so that students will graduate and go to Normandale, but so that more will start in dual-enrollment programs. And the college is trying to expand its population in the other direction, too. Starting this fall, at Normandale’s Partnership Center, students can pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees from two local universities. That represents new revenue and may, Mr. Opatz hopes, attract more entering students who know they can stay on there.
Outside Philadelphia, Montgomery County Community College is working on several fronts to make up for its dwindling enrollment. It’s forming partnerships with four-year institutions. It opened a culinary institute. And a Virtual Campus. For the first time, the college will offer a four-week winter session online, with 30 general-education courses. The plan is to let its own students get ahead, and also to attract guest students, who now, thanks to the Pennsylvania legislature, should have an easier time transferring credits to other public institutions in the state.
The college had budgeted for a 3-percent decline this year in credit hours enrolled, says the president, Karen A. Stout, but the drop was worse: 4.3 percent. That discrepancy is significant when students bring in 59 percent of revenue, up from a third a decade ago.
To balance the budget will be a challenge, says Ms. Stout, requiring “a lot more real-time maneuvering.” Low enrollments in automotive and nuclear-engineering technology recently led the college to cut both programs. “There might have been a time when we would keep a program like that on our books and kind of limp along,” the president says. Not anymore.
Armed with data is the only way to go, she says. The college is now practicing “section-size management,” no longer letting 20 sections of English 101 (enrollment cap 25) all proceed with 15 students, says Ms. Stout, who has an M.B.A., as well as a doctorate in educational leadership. It’s like managing hotel occupancy, she says, or airline seats.
To make the equations work, colleges can’t just bring students in, but must keep them. Retention, several presidents say, has gone from an intention to an imperative. At Northwest Arkansas, faculty and staff are steering students to free tutoring. Harrisburg is experimenting with mandatory orientation and student-success courses.
What’s good for students is now critical for community colleges. In tough times, enrollment is a precious resource. If a student drops out, there may not be another to take his place.
