Bad economy prompts people to seek degrees

By Adriane Scherer, News Writing Student

The connection between the state’s economic struggles and the increase in enrollment at OCCC is becoming clear to students and administrators alike.

Spring 2009 enrollment numbers show an increase of 6.2 percent in credit hours and 6.8 percent in headcount, compared to the spring semester of 2008.

Enrollment growth has been highest among the age group of 25- to 29-year-olds, said Vice President for Academic Affairs, Felix Aquino.

The recession is most likely influencing the enrollment increase. Typically, community college enrollments go up when unemployment goes up, Aquino said. The state’s unemployment rate has risen from 3.3 percent to 5 percent from January 2008 to January 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This means that as the economy falters, enrollment rises due to an increase in returning students who have been laid off or are hoping for a more job-promising degree.

“Now’s the time to be a student,” said Jimmie Hendrix, a second semester public relations major and returning student in his 30s.

Hendrix is currently working for Aflac Insurance, but said he returned to school because he wants to work his dream job.

Many would agree that now is the time to be a student, including 30-year-old Lawrence Cagle, who is still undecided about his major.

Cagle said he decided to attend college this semester after he was laid off by an auto auction company.

“I knew I wanted to go to school eventually but I was considering a later time,” he said.

Although enrollment growth has been highest among older students, it is being felt across the board.

The number of students has risen by about 7 percent from spring 2008 to spring 2009 and the number of returning students also rose 5.3 percent from spring 2007 to the present semester, according to Executive Director of Planning Stu Harvey.

When asked their opinion about the cause of enrollment growth, many of the students usually suggest that it is OCCC’s course transferability, one-on-one teaching, and tuition prices that have attracted more students. The economic status is not even mentioned.

Most of these factors do affect OCCC’s enrollment rates, but they generally stay constant, attracting the same amount of students over time, Aquino said.

He said although transferability and teaching techniques stay the same, less expensive tuition prices are more appealing in struggling times.

Statistics of rising enrollment are more commonly seen in community colleges such as this one because of the lower cost, Aquino said.

Jon Horinek, Recruitment and Admissions director, said OCCC offers a less-expensive alternative for higher education than four-year universities and also offers over a hundred different in-school scholarships.

Horinek said the economy has had no effect on the number of scholarships available to students.

This year’s list contains 165 different scholarships he said.

Ten OCCC students, ranging from age 18 to 50, were asked what they think about the increase in enrollment.

Of those, students over age 22 almost instantly mentioned the economy and how it affects enrollment increases.

Two younger students said they are aware of the connection between unemployment rates and returning students.

Michael Lybolt, a second semester business major, and Dedrick George, a second semester entrepreneurship major, are 18-year-old first-time students who have lost their part-time jobs.

Lybolt lost his job as Con-way cut back on employment, and George lost his job at Circuit City when the entire establishment shut down.

“Now with the economy, you have to have a degree to even get a job,” George said.